


Guardian Blue - Winter Hearth

by Alps_Sarsis



Series: Guardian Blue [7]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Drama & Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Friendship, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-02-20 11:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 35,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13145412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alps_Sarsis/pseuds/Alps_Sarsis
Summary: This story occurs just a sort time after Season 2, before Season 3 of Guardian Blue.Judy, Nick, and his mother all take a train to visit Bunnyburrow and stay with Judy's family over the winter holiday. He's been there before, but how will things change now that their families are one? Will everyone accept, on this tender occasion, the happiness the two have found?





	1. Serenity and Simplicity

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I needed to do a holiday special for them. I designed the Guardian Blue series to be based on a Zootopia TV series, and what series doesn’t have the occasional holiday special? Also, Season 2 was so hard and full of danger. A sweet holiday story is just the type of after dinner mint we need.
> 
> If you are just joining this series for the first time this story is in the continuum AFTER Season 2, so you will definitely want to read Thanks for the Fox and Guardian Blue Season One and Season Two for important context!
> 
> I am unaffiliated with Disney and have no rights to the characters or to the world of Zootopia. I’m enjoying myself a lot though.
> 
> Thank you to Mike as well, for agreeing to come along for the ride!
> 
> Also! A HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing this series! I can’t believe he’s still doing this. Thank you!

  **Winter Hearth**

_ Chapter 1:  Serenity and Simplicity _

 

 

 

Judy smiled at her mate as he stared warily at his mother.  Vivienne sat across from them on the train with her canvas weekend bag.  The bunny furrowed her small brow at her fox’s uneasy expression as he regarded his mom.  The ride had started out quiet.  There was no teasing or banter, and that indicated, to the bunny, a possible grievance to which she’d not been made openly aware.  Her quiet patience finally expired.

 

“What’s on your mind, Slick?”

 

“Huh?” Nick glanced down at her and then flattened his ears in obvious scandalous indignation as he gestured at Judy, looking back to the vixen across from him.  “What, nothing?  I get a brain duster if I call Judy ‘Carrots’, but she can just call me ‘Slick’?”  The bunny grinned brightly at him, knowing very well that he was deflecting, not genuinely hurt.  It was better hearing the banter though.  It told her nothing was seriously wrong.

 

“Well, you _were_ a con-artist, sweetie,” his mother pointed out.  Judy grinned victoriously at her vulpine lover.

 

“She literally farmed _carrots_!” the male fox huffed.

 

“…and yet is not actually a carrot herself, dear,” Vivienne pointed out teasingly.  She wore the patented Wilde Family low lidded smug expression.

 

“And I’m not a deer!” Nick crossed his arms, pouting.

 

“But you are dear to us both,” Vivienne crooned.

 

“Uh huh!” Judy chimed in agreement.  “Sure are!”  Nick slouched.  The bunny laughed at him, getting a few stares from other rabbits on the train. This one was headed to Bunnyburrow.  It was an early morning ride again, though not as unpleasant as the first time she’d gone home with Nick.  He didn’t fare well on that ride because he hadn’t had much sleep and ate just before the trip, but Judy still decided to cut her fox a little slack.  He appreciated that greatly. 

 

It had been just over two months since the harrowing events in the Interior, and things had calmed down significantly.  Judy was absolutely determined not to dwell on that mess, as her wound was fully healed and she had a happy weekend ahead of her.  It was a needed break for the two officers.  Chief Tora had not really warmed to the bunny and her partner yet, but she did not seem to be outwardly antagonizing them either.  The tigress seemed more content to leave them alone, so long as they were not actively bothering her or causing problems.  Her new duties as chief had completely dominated her time.

 

So far, little about the fox and bunny’s daily routine as officers had changed once Judy got off of Desk Duty from her injuries.  By that, it meant they had been on Fluff Duty for the past month.  It was not a surprise.  Nick was absolutely certain that Bogo would have done the same.  Besides, they couldn’t go back into active duty until they were cleared for it, and that was a bit of a process after that kind of incident.  The fox already knew all too well.  Bogo reassured them both at the Fall Festival party that everything would be fine.  The ZPD very much wanted them back on the streets, but had no intention of putting them right back into recovery in their haste.  Chief Tora had, at that time, gone home for a few days for a family event.  Despite still acting as Mayor, Bogo had been back at his desk at least for part of each day.  It had been a nice week of semi-normalcy with the bull fearing a pranking from Nick that never came.

 

Encouragement from the cape buffalo made Judy feel slightly better, as it reminded her that her _real_ chief was not so far away.  Nick implored Judy _not_ to complain to their very busy boss-turned-mayor about how Tora had initially reacted to them.  It was going to be handled.  The idea of how Nick intended to do that still frightened the bunny, but she let it go.  She felt like the chief could still _do_ something, but agreed that their reputation might be on the line if they got him involved.  They had not demanded any special treatment up to that point.  If they asked the standing mayor for help, it would certainly be seen as a request for special treatment.  All those problems were falling away behind them, however, as the train raced away from the city.

 

Judy smiled kindly to her faux-grumpy fox beside her and murmured, “You never did say what was on your mind, Slick.”  She was pretty deliberately poking him.  He was not a morning fox, and getting his heart-rate up would bring him out of grumpy territory eventually.

 

“Just… Mom left Duke in charge of the bakery this weekend.  You have to know I’m a little uneasy about that,” Nick explained.

 

“You and Duke have been getting along,” Vivienne interjected, “What’s this all about?”

 

“It’s not that… I mean… Duke’s tiny.  He can’t lift a full tray of muffins on his own.  I am just a little confused about how he’s supposed to manage all that.  He’s only been at it a couple of months as it was.”

 

Vivienne chuckled at that and shook her head slowly.  “Don’t you worry about that, Sweetie.  Rudy volunteered to help, half days.  Once all the baking’s done for the day, Duke doesn’t actually have to lift anything heavier than a cream-filled eclair.”

 

Nick sat bolt-upright.  “Rudy?  Spotsworth?  The _bobcat_?!” the fox cried scandalously.

 

“Yep, that’s the one!” Vivienne chimed.

 

“He’s a crook!” Nick barked, causing Judy to shush him as more bunny eyes trained on the louder vulpine.

 

“So were you and Duke!” hissed the fox’s mother.  “…and see there, I still trust you with my _only_ daughter!”  The vixen indicated Judy.  Nick head-tilted, eyes widening.  Something seemed… off about that whole dynamic as illustrated.  It tickled the bunny, however, and she had to restrain her giggling.  With him distracted by that, his mom continued, “It’ll be fine.  We have an understanding.”

 

“What understanding?” demanded Nick, obviously not convinced as he snapped back into the moment.

 

“I might have told him that if he disappointed me, I would have to tell Sergeant Hopps that the bobcat made me terribly unhappy…”  Viv grinned meekly.

 

“That seems… almost sufficient.”  Nick nodded slowly, getting a growl from his bunny.

 

Vivienne looked away bashfully, “…then I might have also shown him the video of Judy taking down the bear that was resisting arrest.”

 

“Mom!” Judy snapped.  “That’s technically coercion!”  Nick burst into a fit of laughter.  The bunny then shrank back a little, realizing two things.  First, she’d been a bit louder than she intended.  Second, in a train car full of bunnies, she called Vivienne ‘Mom’.  Yeah, eyes were definitely on her now.  While the happy couple was not really hiding their relationship outside of work, they were not flying a banner either.  Most of the mammals at work knew about it after they had told Clawhauser, but they hadn’t even finished the paperwork in Zootopia yet because of concerns that if the forms were not very specific.  Some nosey spoil-sport might actually cause problems for the pair down the line if their documentation for their union was not air-tight and they both knew it.  It had to be absolute and beyond challenge.  While no one had given them a hard time about it so far, they didn’t want to invite that scenario either.

 

“He volunteered!” Vivienne offered, ignoring Judy’s slip.

 

“Before or _after_ you showed me flattening a bear?” insisted Judy, refocused on the problem at paw.

 

“Are you really Judy Hopps?” asked a sweet little voice off to the side.  Judy’s attention whipped over to a small girl bunny in a train seat a little down the aisle.  The tiny doe was albino, like her sister, Sammie.  Judy tensed up.  They were off duty, but still very much representatives of the force, even on their well-earned vacation. 

 

“I am!” Judy said with as kind a smile as she could muster while juggling her family of mischievous foxes.

 

“I’m Whitney!” the doe beamed.  “Is that your partner?” she inquired.

 

“I am!”  Nick mimicked Judy even down to the tone, which made it seem directed as teasing.  He matched exactly the artificial level of cheerful that the bunny officer had used.

 

“Wow, it’s so cool to actually meet you.”  Whitney glanced at the bunny beside her, a chocolate-toned buck who appeared more than a little wary.  He nodded at the little doe however, and the girl moved over to where Judy and the foxes were sitting.

 

“Nice to meet you too, Whitney!” Judy offered, trying to level the deliberately sunny tone of her voice so it didn’t seem forced.  She would deal with her foxes later.  “Are you heading to Bunnyburrow for the holiday to see family?” she inquired.

 

“Yup!  We do every year.  My dad works in the advertising business.  We moved to Zootopia ‘cause he didn’t wanna advertise produce.”  Nick laughed at that, failing to restrain himself.

 

Judy shot him a look that could curdle Kool-Aid and then smiled at the white doe again.  “My partner and I are spending the holidays with my family too.  I’m from Bunnyburrow myself.”

 

“Really?  I didn’t know that!” Whitney chimed.  “So… Uh… Anyway, I just wanted to say… thank you.  Thanks ‘cause you inspired me and everything.  A lot.”

 

“Oh?” Judy responded, sitting up straighter.  “Looking to become a police officer too?”

 

“Oh no!” Whitney chimed brightly.  “I’m not violent at all.”  Nick seized up with a sharp squeak to show that he was probably going to die if he couldn’t laugh, but he held it back.  “I want to be a TV and movie star, like Jack Savage.”

 

Nick finally managed to force himself to talk.  “Then… Then shouldn’t Jack have been the one… the one more inspiring to you?”  His voice was high pitched, proof that he was only barely keeping his mirth in check.

 

“Well, Judy is more like me,” Whitney explained.

 

“Oh?” the grey-toned doe asked, suddenly curious.  She was happy to take the floor away from her fox while he got himself under control.

 

“Yeah.  Daddy said it would be super hard for me to be on TV or in movies because there’s not a lot of albino bunnies who make it on there.  It would be like being a bunny cop.  But there’s actually a really great bunny cop.  So I’m still gonna try!”  Judy leaned back a little at hearing that.  She was _sure_ that a few other bunnies had been inspired by her into taking jobs that _bunnies_ were not normally chosen for.  That was a pretty natural assumption.  But, she had not considered that she might inspire some who wanted a future that they _personally_ might have originally struggled to attain.  Judy tried to bury the flood of emotion from that realization.

 

“Thank you, Whitney.  I… I’m very happy to hear that,” the bunny officer managed to say without her voice cracking.

 

“Do you have… any advice that might help?” she softly pried, obviously nervous.  Judy froze up.  Even doing school visits she was not often asked that question.  At least, not in the scope it was being used now.  Whitney wanted _life_ advice, not advice about dealing with bad grades, bullies, or getting in shape.

 

“Uhh…  Well…”  Judy folded her ears back and then finally thought back to some of the best encouragement she’d had since she left the academy.  It was by her old instructor.  “I would tell you… that if the goal you have your heart set on is really what _you_ want… deep down inside… then nothing… and no one… will ever be able to push you back hard enough to keep you from taking another step forward.  You just have to keep moving forward.”

 

“Even if my dad thinks I shouldn’t?” inquired the girl.  Judy winced a bit, eyes shooting up to the anxious-looking older buck.  His ears were back.  He was very much put on the spot by that.  Judy remembered the misgivings of her own parents in her life choices.  She did not want to smear this doe’s dad right there.  Vivienne spoke up instead.

 

“Whitney,” she murmured softly, “Parents have a very natural and understandable aversion to seeing the ones we love struggle.  We want them to enjoy the lives that we brought them into.  When they suffer instead, even if it’s for something they really want… it makes us sad.”  The tiny doe gazed back at Viv with round scarlet eyes, unblinking.

 

“Yeah… I… I guess…” the girl sighed a little sadly.

 

“However,” the vixen continued, “That doesn’t mean that we want our kits to give up and not have their dream at all.  If he worries for you… _rely_ on him to help you make that dream come true.  He may be worried, but any good father will do whatever he can to help. Your dream is the silver screen.  His dream is your happiness.  Be a team.  You can both get what you want if you work together.”  The young doe was silent, eyes wide in wonder.

 

“Th… Thank you…” whispered the buck, seeming shaken by that.  Vivienne nodded.

 

“Wow… thanks…” said Whitney, finally.  “Are you really Officer Judy’s mom?” she openly wondered.  The bunny cop tensed up.  This might be a hard one to explain to one so young.

 

“She’s my mother,” Nick responded with a smile.

 

“Wow!  Cool!”  The little doe bounced a bit.  She appeared to immediately dismiss it, just like that.  The expression on her father’s face was evidence that the clear connection had been made.  The girl continued.  “How about you, Nick?  Do you have any advice for me?  This is like getting my presents early!”

 

“Sure!” Nick beamed, “Learn to target mammals in positions of power that make decisions about your future.  Find out who _their_ friends are.  Make friends with _them_.”  Judy’s blood ran cold.  What kind of advice was her ex-con fox about to give this little girl?!  “Ask those friends questions about the things your target likes or even better… _needs_.  When it’s time, approach your target with confidence and knowledge, and make clear demands from your own position of power.  Don’t back down, because when you have something _they_ need, they will listen to you.”

 

Judy’s muzzle hung open.  “Nick, she’s… like… twelve.”

 

“That’s… serious advice, Marshmallow,” Whitney’s dad intoned.  “Don’t forget any of that.” 

 

“What?” Judy glanced back to him, seeing the older buck nodding sagely.  Seriously?  It seemed so shady, the way Nick put it.

 

The doe’s father explained casually, “I’m deep in the advertising industry.  I’ve seen it.  It really does work like that.  You gotta kinda push the people up top to make things happen your way, but you gotta use the _right_ push.  I think even _I_ can use his advice, honestly.  It’s smart.”

 

This time it was Nick who got to broadly grin at his bunny in smug, smug victory.

 

 

 

 *************

 

 

 

Vivienne stood a little shakily, having been sitting for too long.  The train had stopped at the quaint Bunnyburrow station.  There were quite a few rabbits mulling about, but Judy was pleased to see that Charlie was there among them.  He’d driven the family’s station wagon out to pick her and the foxes up.  They disembarked from the train and Judy bolted out to her brother, throwing her arms around him. 

 

“Hey, Sis!  Good to see you again.  And, you know… not actually on the mend.”  He laughed.  Judy was aware that, at least behind closed doors, the family teased a bit about the doe’s frequent need for medical attention in the past year.  Such a thing wasn’t really meant to be funny, it just… was.  There was even a marker-board on the refrigerator at her mom and dad’s house with an “X Days since Judy’s Last Injury” written on it.  She supposed it currently stood at eleven due to a recent mishap cutting veggies.  That accident didn’t require real medical attention, but her dad had sighed and she was sure she heard marker squeaking when she told him.

 

“Hey Charlie!” Nick laughed as he came up to the pair.  The foxes had casually walked from the train instead of running like Judy had done.  Nick’s leg was certainly healed enough to do so, but he let his mother retain her dignity of just pacing happily over to them.

 

“Oh hey… Nick!  And you brought your mom, I heard.  Hi!  I’m Judy’s brother Charlie!”  He reached out a paw but got scooped in for a hug instead.  He eagerly hugged back, appreciative of the more bunny-friendly greeting.  Judy was reminded, in her brother’s surprise, that foxes didn’t typically hug that much because they were more scent-oriented.  There was decidedly a more familial or intimate suggestion in sharing someone’s scent.  Vivienne, however, _was_ family, so it was fine for her.

 

Judy and Charlie walked together as they moved away from the station, the bunny hauling her little suitcase behind her.  She spoke pleasantly, feeling cheerful.  “Who else is gonna be at the farm this year?”

 

Charlie answered energetically, “Everyone!”

 

Judy paused.  “Wait, really?  Like… everyone, everyone?” she could not remember the last time all her siblings were even in the same place at the same time.

 

“Some of them didn’t even get to really _meet_ Nick last time you were here, and now he’s a member of the family, right?  They wanna meet him,” the buck chuckled.  He had to talk a little louder just from the din of bunnies at the station all laughing, talking and excitedly greeting one another.

 

Judy sighed.  “And here I was looking forward to a nice, quiet holiday at home.  Is everyone already there?”

 

“Nah, just the ones that still live there plus Eli and Jessie,” answered Charlie.  “Well… Angela lives there too, now.  She moved back in because she’s going to college.  But that starts at the beginning of the year.”  Judy nodded at that, not sure what would have provoked her most reckless sister into going back to school, but she was glad to hear it.

 

“Well, you wanted to see all of us together, Slick, looks like you’ll get the chance.”  Judy turned to smile at her husband but he was missing.  She looked back some distance and cupped her muzzle.  There was a pile of bunny kits, squealing and laughing and cheering.

 

“Oh noes, they got ‘im!” Charlie laughed loudly.  Vivienne was actually holding her sides, in hysterics, struggling to grasp her phone to record the carnage.  Nick was laid out flat, buried under all of them.  Judy was pretty sure she knew what had happened.  The little albino doe had told some other kits that Nick Wilde was there.  Because of the action-packed video that had rekindled the love of Munch in Bunnyburrow, that specific fox was _really_ popular with local kits.

 

Nick got a paw up out of the pile, flailing it a little, and then it melodramatically sank back down.  Judy laughed harder at his antics.  This was not so unusual in terms or reception for a lapine family member.  Little bunnies swarmed.  That’s just how it worked.  With his mate’s help, the fox eventually finally got out of the fluff-pile and reveled in the attention for a little bit, answering questions about his munch games in his youth and the kinds of mammals he’d played against in the city.  Judy didn’t want to deny him that.

 

They finally made it back to the family’s green station wagon.  It was a vehicle large enough for Nick and his mother to ride in comfortably.  Even so, Charlie helped Vivienne get in.  She appreciated the care shown, and accepted the help despite being a lot more spry than her age would suggest. 

 

The ride toward the Hopps farm featured conversation mostly between Charlie and Viv, as she’d never been to Bunnyburrow and was absolutely shocked at the field of view.  The region was so incredibly flat and vacuous.  It was open land and the occasional hill or farm as far as the eye could see.  Trees were sparse and the vixen was just not used to that.  There were more trees as they got closer to the Hopps farm, but Charlie took an unannounced detour to let Judy and Nick see the empty plot where the Tuber farm had been. 

 

It had burned down the last time the pair had come to visit Judy’s family home.  Nick and Judy had risked their lives in the burning house to save five bunny kits still inside.  That was the other reason that Nick got piled on at the station.  It was a quiet and somber moment, and Nick answered a few questions from his mom about the rescue itself, filling in gaps or just things she’d forgotten.  It seemed so long ago, even if it had been less than a year.

 

Charlie informed them that Doc Tuber had opened a new partner-practice in Deerbrooke, so he didn’t live in Bunnyburrow proper anymore, but that he visited all the time.  His oldest, Sadie, played Munch at her school and was on track to be the best player in the county.  Nick said that it felt appropriate. 

 

After that detour, they strayed from their course just slightly once more to go into town.  He was picking Sammie up from work to take her to the farm for the weekend.  This suited Viv just fine because she was delighted with the holiday decorations that were up everywhere.  The evergreen trees and chains of holly and lights added a festive atmosphere to what was, at that time of day, a quiet little main street.  Charlie pulled into the parking lot of the pharmacy, which was the best place to park and wait in that location.  And they waited, the buck in the driver’s seat texting his sister.

 

“Now, this isn’t the only little downtown area for Bunnyburrow, right?” asked Vivienne.  “There’s a bunch of them.”

 

“Right!” chimed Charlie. “There are six, but this is the largest.  There are little pockets with shops and the like spaced pretty evenly away from each other.  That was done to reduce travel time and traffic when we are all very busy tending to the farms.  The different little towns inside Bunnyburrow cater to things a little differently.  Angora specializes in dining and pubs and the like.  Hareton is the go-to for farmers markets.  You want building materials, you can find everything you need in Warren.  If you fancy branding yourself a ne’er-do-well, Cedar Creek is the place to be.”  Judy flinched at him sharing that little tidbit.  A tour guide her brother was not.

 

“Oh, is that Sammie?” inquired Viv, seeming unfazed by that.  Judy looked out the window and saw her sister.  Sammie was dressed nicely in a blouse and skirt with a denim jacket, but she had a few bandages up along the rims of her ears.  Judy wondered with a pained grimace if Sammie had slammed them in a door or something.  That happened to bunnies sometimes.  The doe officer then recognized that she was walking close alongside another fox.  That got her attention.  She was aware of her albino sister’s completely understandable and perfectly relatable fondness for vulpines.  With that little bit of background, Judy knew she was not likely just sharing the sidewalk with this one.  She got out so she could politely meet him, honestly wanting to provide the attention that deserved.  Nick and Vivienne did the same, likely just following the bunny’s lead.  Sammie immediately darted away from the fox she had been walking with and hugged Nick and Judy each in turn.

 

“I’m so happy you all could make it!” she cried, and then smiled brightly at Vivienne who was obviously trying not to fixate on the soft-formed doe’s red eyes.  “I’m especially glad you could make it back, Viv.  I didn’t get to hang out with you nearly enough back in New Reynard.  Welcome to our neck of the not-woods.”  She hugged the vixen as well, super tight.

 

Judy heard her partner speak up.  “I’m Sammie’s brother, Nick.”  The bunny cop snapped her attention to her mate as he introduced himself to the other fox, holding out a paw.  She tensed up hard.  She knew that her fox had done that for the shock value to prompt the other vulpine into speaking up about his own purpose for walking with Sammie.

 

“Oh, I know who you are!” he laughed in a light and friendly tone.  “Sammie’s told me a bunch.”  The slightly heavier fox took Nick’s paw, giving it a very firm and confident shake.  He looked a little older than Sammie, though maybe not quite as old as the fox he was greeting.  He wore glasses, which made him seem a little older, however.  His fur-color was a little lighter, and he had a white tipped tail which was a lot more common with foxes in the Bunnyburrow area.  He wore a blue gingham shirt and tan cargo-styled pants that made him really fit in with the usual casual attire in town.

 

“You have us at a disadvantage then!” Nick chimed.

 

“I’m Mike Russettail,” he answered pleasantly.  “I’m one of Sammie’s friends.”

 

“Are you coming to the farm with us too?” requested Charlie, seeming a little confused.  It was going to be a tight fit, even in the station wagon, with three foxes and three bunnies.

 

“Naw, I’m stayin’ here, unfortunately.  I sure want to, but we’re short on paws.  I gotta stay here.”  He laughed in a kind tone to show he was genuinely okay with that.  Vivienne slipped back into the back seat of the car as Sammie crawled in.  That would put her in the middle between Nick and his mother when he got back in.

 

Charlie nodded at that.  “Sammie mentioned you - I just didn’t know you were a fox.  I certainly hadn’t recognized you!  Thanks for takin’ care of my sister.  She can be a real paw-full.”  The white doe put her tongue out at her brother.

 

“Hah!  Yeah, she sure can be, but I love her anyhow.”  That got Judy and Nick’s attention instantly.  Oh.  It really was that kind of friend.  That he was a fox wasn’t a huge surprise to Judy, but she was _very_ surprised that Sammie hadn’t even _mentioned_ that she was dating again.  The white doe rather nervously told Mike she’d see him Monday morning, and he gave her thumbs-up and cheerfully resumed his trek down the sidewalk, tail waving in a likely intentional fashion at the white bunny in the car.  Nick got in beside Sammie and closed the door.  Judy hopped in as well, and Charlie pulled out of the parking lot.

 

While the bunny cop figured Nick would be the first to say something, or at least Charlie, to prompt Sammie to explain herself, it was actually Vivienne who spoke up.  “There’s uh… There’re actually not enough foxes for _every_ bunny to get one.  We are on comparatively limited supply.”  Charlie laughed at that.

 

“It’s not common in Bunnyburrow, I promise,” Sammie chuckled uneasily, likely not understanding that Vivienne was being cute.

 

Judy felt the ice was broken enough for her to ask.  “So it’s a thing then, you and Mike?”

 

There was a shy pause from Sammie and she took a deep breath and answered. “Yeah, it is.  Not something we share all over the place, obviously, but Mikey figured you and Nick would probably not frown on it, out of anyone we knew.”

 

“Of course we wouldn’t!” barked Vivienne quickly, eager to make sure that the uncertain doe understood that there was no ill feeling about it.  She had only been teasing a little.

 

Judy leaned back, talking toward the back seat.  “I just figured you would have emailed me about him or _mentioned_ something on the phone is all.”

 

“I didn’t want everyone thinking I was just… you know… doing it because you were with a fox.  And not everyone in Bunnyburrow would be totally friendly about the idea anyway, so we’ve kept the nature of our friendship pretty private.”

 

“Not another patient, I hope?” pressed Judy.  She remembered how much Sammie’s former boyfriend had messed her up, even about trusting other foxes.

 

Sammie sighed at that and shook her head.  “No, this one’s not.  And we don’t call them patients.  I’m a social worker most of the time, not a doctor.”

 

“So how’d you meet him?” interrogated Charlie.  The tone of protective brother was thick on his voice.  Judy could understand.  Usually, if one of her sisters avoided talking about a prospective mate, there was a problem.  He was wise to be guarded.

 

“That’s actually… kind of Nick and Judy’s fault,” Sammie chuckled awkwardly.

 

“Oh, do tell,” Nick stated.

 

“Well, a few months ago I was at a Shrew-Value hardware store picking up floor cleaner and a new mop for the station because it was real quiet that morning and I didn’t want to fall asleep.  Sometimes it gets that way in the week.  There’s not a lot to do even for the sheriff!  The social worker can only water the plants so many times before she has to go outside.  It was that kind of morning, but it was too early for lunch so I couldn’t just go to Mama’s Kitchen up on Third Avenue; I had to think of something else to do-…”

 

“Tangent, Sammie!” Judy and Charlie both cried simultaneously.  Nick laughed.  When their albino sister got nervous talking about something personal, she would wander around the conversation aimlessly and had to be knocked back on the rails sometimes.  Judy often wondered if she ever did that talking with others, or if it was something she did only when talking about herself.

 

Sammie laughed awkwardly again at herself, then continued, “Right… Sorry… So, I was in the hardware store.  And I was looking around and got a text message.  It was from mom.  It said “Judy found fox.  Nick ALIVE.  At hospital now.”  The grey doe jerked slightly at that.  She had not really thought much about how all of her sisters reacted when that news went out.

 

“It was a mass message.  She sent it to the whole family,” Charlie explained.

 

“I know, she didn’t even remove my name from the list,” Judy informed.

 

Vivienne interjected.  “I imagine that came as a big surprise right then.”

 

Charlie responded, “I was at home and got stuck answering the phones because Mom and Dad turned theirs off.  It was completely nuts.  Don’t do that again, please.”

 

The white doe nodded at that slowly and sighed.  “So yeah… I uh… I made a bit of a scene, I’m afraid.”

 

Vivienne covered her muzzle.  “Oh dear… Yes, and you were in a store too.  That had to be rough.”

 

“I cried,” Sammie admitted.  She sounded choked up about it even then, months later.

 

“I’m sorry I put so many of you guys through the wringer on that,” Nick stated softly.

 

Vivienne put a paw on her son’s shoulder.  “Not your fault.  Dumb mentally unbalanced cervine,” she growled.

 

“So, you were upset in the store, then what?” Judy interrupted, not wanting her partner to become gloomy.

 

“Yeaaaaah, when I say I cried, I mean… I… was hysterical,” Sammie clarified.  Judy gritted her teeth a little trying to imagine that.  Sammie had felt guilty for preventing Judy from getting to admit her love for Nick before it happened.  She thought that the fox died without ever getting to know and there was an ocean of guilt on her for it.  Sammie sent so many text messages of support and joy when it was discovered that Nick had actually survived.  The doe spoke softly, “Even worse, I was in the section of the store where they had the PVC pipe.  That amplified me like some kind of insane musical instrument.”  Vivienne cringed at that visibly.  “So… Well, Mike’s the manager at that store and he was immediately afraid I’d managed to take one of my paws off with one of the display power-tools so he came running with the emergency first aid kit and everything.”

 

“Oh my goodness!” cried Nick’s mom.

 

“He ended up taking me to the ‘office slash break room’ to help me calm down,” Sammie explained.  “It took a while for him to get me to a point where I was even understandable enough that he could find out what was going on.  Turns out, he was well aware of the uh… incident… and he’d really been pulling for Nick and Judy too.  He was pretty shaken by the news also, and we just stayed in the back a while and talked about things, pulled up news feeds, and digested what was going on.  Like… We did that for over an hour.  After I calmed down, I insisted that I really needed to go back to work before they sent deputies out to find me.  And right there, he offered to make dinner for me.  He’d been so sweet and all, I couldn’t refuse.  We got to be friends, and then more after that, I guess.  It’s been… nice!”  Sammie was easily identifiable as blushing.

 

“Does Mom know?” asked Charlie.

 

Sammie waved dismissively.  “I told her I met someone, but she’s not pushed.  She was honestly too busy with other stuff so I’ve enjoyed that too.”

 

Nick laughed playfully, “By the time Judy decides to actually make any kind of formal announcement about us, bunny-fox pairings will be falling out of fashion again.” 

 

“It’s just two pairings!” Judy scolded.

 

“Uh, Jack and Skye?” prompted Nick.

 

“Oh… Why did I forget that?”  She covered her face shamefully.

 

“You know she’s starring in a movie based on that mess in the Interior, right?  Skye, I mean,” informed Charlie.

 

Nick nodded.  “Yeah, she told us about it.  When she was _moving_ _out_.”  He playfully pouted.  He didn’t like losing one of the only neighbors he actually talked with in his building, but he understood.  When they came out as a couple publically, Skye was almost never in her apartment in the first place.  There were some fireworks on social media for a bit, but as Jack predicted, it died down almost instantly when his new movie was announced a few weeks later. 

 

“Who are they gonna cast for you and Nick?” asked Sammie.

 

Judy’s mate laughed.  “Oh, it’s only _based_ on what happened there, it’s not what actually happened there.  There’s still too many open investigations going on to pull that off!”

 

“Oh… Then what’s it about?” the white doe pressed curiously.

 

Vivienne answered, “It’s one of Jack’s usual spy-movies, but it’s about protecting a secret out in the Interior.  While some panning shots are being taken by a crew out there, apparently Jack and Skye won’t even have to go out there.  Something about Skye… not liking spiders?” the vixen stated.

 

“I hear they’ve got big ones,” Charlie informed.

 

“Judy fought one,” Nick said.

 

Judy grumbled, “We so aren’t discussing this right now.  We are here to _not_ talk about work.”

 

Charlie glanced up in the rear-view mirror at Nick.  “Oh man, you and me with cider later, fox.  I can’t _not_ know about that!”

 

Judy shot a look back to her mate.  “If you talk about work in front of me, I tell everyone about your affair with the topless hyena that Skye walked in on.”

 

“Don’t say it like that!” Nick huffed.  “You are intentionally misleading them!”

 

“Nick had an affair?” whimpered Sammie in a horrified tone.

 

The fox cried out, “See what you did!  No!  She was holding me down treating my _spider_ _injuries_!” Nick flailed a bit.  Vivienne laughed heavily.  She was obviously already aware of the story since Nick told her literally everything.

 

“This is not how you encourage us not to pry, Judy!  Nick had spider injuries?!” Sammie pushed.

 

“Hey look, fields!”  Judy pointed out the window.

 

“Would you look at that?” Nick gasped.  His mother smiled and marveled at the furrowed and bare winter fields.

 

“Yes, quite nice, dear.”  The nearly automated response got a very hard laugh from Charlie for some reason.

 

Nick, seeming to get the message, changed the subject.  “So… for the holidays, I know bunnies kind of have family traditions even more prevalently than the typical things like decorating.  What traditions are unique to the Hopps family?”

 

“Fire dance,” Charlie answered quickly.

 

Nick glanced up.  “What?”

 

Judy smiled at that.  “We make a very large fire and we all meet around it with family, direct and extended, and we dance and hang out.  Usually some drinks to enjoy too.  It’s all for fun.  There’s a tradition for the kits too where the grown-ups tell the kits something they learned new that year as a reminder that you never stop growing.  It usually ends up being a contest to see who learned the crazier thing that year.  I’m looking forward to the dance though.  I missed it last year.”

 

“You know I don’t dance,” Nick offered in an uncharacteristically meek tone.

 

“I’m so dancing,” Vivienne laughed.

 

“That’s the spirit!” Charlie laughed.  As he said that, they pulled up the tree-lined drive leading up to the Hopps residence.

 

Judy smiled brightly as she looked out at it.  She was home.  She was home with her mate.  She had been looking forward to this so much.  Hopefully things would be quieter and less dramatic than they were during their last visit.  Was that really too much to ask?


	2. Wool and Discontent

  **Winter Hearth**

_ Chapter 2:  Wool and Discontent _

 

 

 

Pete, Tanya, and Billy all rushed over to see the foxes.  It was pretty understandable for Pete and Tanya, since they were only nine and ten respectively, but Bonnie gave an arched eyebrow of disapproval to the other.  Fifteen begged a bit more self-control.  Judy was just happy that they all seemed delighted to see Nick.  She knew the leanings of her youngest siblings the least, given that she had not been around much for the last five years of their lives due to being in college and in the academy, and later in Zootopia.  She was not sure how, of all her siblings, they would react to this rather different company.

 

Tanya made an immediate beeline for Vivienne because she liked the bag that the older fox had with her.  Also, it gave her a starting point for conversation.  She’d already met Nick last time.  The youngest of her sisters loved crafts, and was very curious about how the interesting bag was made.  Judy expected that Billy and Pete might want to talk with Nick about Munch, since that was what the bunnies in Bunnyburrow knew her partner better for, but instead, they were more interested in his adventures as a cop.  To Judy’s irritation, they wanted to know about The Interior. 

 

Nick was kind to his mate in that he steered the conversation away from that.  He dutifully talked instead about things that the two bucks were much more interested in anyway; video games.  Specifically, there was a zany new installment to the Cat-a-mari series.  Nick distracted himself with lots of games while he was recovering from his broken leg.  That was one of the games that the bunny enjoyed watching him play.  The music in particular was just so… bouncy.  Judy was happy that her fox knew to pull the conversation away from work.  She spotted Angela out of the corner of her eye, waving from the kitchen, so she wandered over to that side of the house to let her siblings meet her mate and mother-in-law.  She wasn’t sure the younger ones knew about her fox-wedding yet, but she’d wait until things were less hectic to cross that bridge.

 

“I’m so happy you brought Vivienne.  How was the trip?” asked her obsidian-toned sister. 

 

“Boring for the most part,” Judy responded with a relaxed smile.  “We did meet a sweet little doe on the train though.  Nick gave her advice about her career path.  He’s so good with kits.”

 

“You are so insufferably in love, bunny,” her sister chuckled, rolling her eyes.

 

“Shouldn’t I be?” Judy replied, crossing her arms with a grin.

 

“Yeah, definitely.  They know, by the way.”  Angela nodded in the direction of the living room.  Judy perked up.

 

“They know what?” she pressed, needing clarification.

 

“About you and Nick, silly!” Angela laughed.

 

“Oh.  Well, is there anyone left who doesn’t know?”

 

“No one who lives here,” smirked her sister.  “Mom and Dad talk about it enough that it’s pointless to filter it from those who are here all the time.  You can tell Eli when she’s done giving her little one a bath, though.”

 

“How can Eli not know?  She’s usually so involved in gossip.  Wait, isn’t it a little early for a bath?” Judy considered, scrunching her muzzle up a bit.

 

“Mom let her help make no-bake cookies.”  The scene was vividly painted without much need for description.  Judy laughed at that. 

 

“Do.  Want.”  Sammie’s words were firm as she entered the kitchen.  Those cookies were the white doe’s personal favorite.  She hugged her littermate as well.

 

“How’s married life?” Angela inquired back to the bunny cop.

 

“Oddly… not that different,” Judy laughed.  “Nick’s mom was right… we really did act like a married couple for a long time before things fell into place.”

 

“Well… I mean… Some things _have_ to be different, right?” she asked.

 

“Of course, but those are different things that I’m not going to discuss with my sisters.”  Judy gave a teasing grin.  Of any of them, she expected Angela to be the one to poke and prod about that.

 

“It’s not like it’s a complete secret, Judy, you married him!” laughed Angela.

 

Sammie flicked the dark-furred doe’s ear.  “For all the questions you have about it, one would think you were secretly sweet on vulpines yourself.”

 

Angela put her ears back scandalously.  “Oh that is so _not_ the case and you know it.”

 

Sammie grinned.  “Oh I _do_ know it.  I know you see only foxes as a gateway drug.  You’re really after _wolf_.”

 

“Jeeze, what?!” cried Angela, before slapping a paw over her muzzle.

 

“Shh!” shushed Judy before laughing.  “What’s this about wolves?” she whispered.

 

“Oh, I’m just messin’ with her,” Sammie confessed.  Judy felt like her other sister’s reaction to the teasing was a little exaggerated for someone who was just getting randomly teased.  Still, Judy didn’t know any wolves in Bunnyburrow, so she couldn’t think of anyone that her sister could be talking to.  Maybe she should inquire deeper about her sudden desire to go to college.  For that moment, she dropped it as her husband’s voice interrupted the teasing bunnies.

 

“We have the full grey-scale here,” Nick observed.

 

“Foxes look great wearing black,” Angela counter-observed before hugging Nick.

 

The vulpine finally released the snuggly doe and nodded.  “I’m gonna take Mom up to get her settled into her room, and then she and Bonnie’ll be taking a tour of the farm together.”

 

“That’s fine.  I’m gonna catch up with Eli in a bit, so I will find you back in the living room.”  At this, her fox smiled brightly and headed back to the other room.  Judy found herself much more relaxed about Nick in the home of her youth because of the way he was already treated like family.  She was on eggshells last time they were here and it was just completely different this time.

 

Sammie took Angela to go say hi to Vivienne and Judy headed upstairs to the bath to go talk to her only slightly younger sister.  She found Eli calmly blow-drying a giggling little kit wrapped in a towel.

 

“You’re here, I see.  You have your vulpine entourage with you?” inquired the other doe with a smile.  Judy tensed up a little.  She was suddenly nervous.  Did she mean that in a kind way, or an accusing one?  This was Judy’s second trip home in almost a year and she had twice as many foxes this year.  If Eli didn’t approve, this would be the time to say that.

 

“I uh… I did, yes.  Nick and his mother,” Judy explained.

 

Eli was quiet a moment as she diligently ruffled the little kit’s fur with the dryer.  She finally spoke again.  “That’s sweet of him.  I don’t know a lot of foxes, but I can’t name a lot of bucks who are that sweet to their mom.  They’re close, yes?  Mom told me about how you found her.”  Judy released a slow breath she hadn’t realized she was even holding.  That was certainly a positive sort of observation.

 

“They are, yes.  He’s making up for lost time.  She was happy to come.  This is their first winter holiday together in… longer than I can even tell you.”  Judy nodded as she said that.  She had considered that a few times as the holiday approached.  It was why she invited Viv.  Nick was being forced to choose his first winter celebration with his new wife and his first holiday season with his own mother, who had missed the joy of the season with her son for many years.  Judy refused to make him choose.  She told the vixen to come with them without hesitation, to Viv’s tearful delight.  It had been the right choice.  While Nick had not told her of the internal conflict he was surely dealing with, he was positively animated in his excitement when his bunny told him of her decision.

 

“And he decided to bring her here and share that personal experience with you?” Eli asked.  There was definite accusation in her voice this time.

 

“This surprises you?” followed Judy.  It was the exact direction of conversation the doe hoped this would take.  It was also proof that no, Eli had not been told, despite being one of the ones she told her parents it was okay to discuss it with.  The kit kept her very busy, however, and she’d not been home at all since Judy and Nick’s previous visit.  It was understandable.  That was not the kind of news one delivered in the form of a text message.

 

“It seems strange.  I mean… for work partners.”  A hard stare from the brown-toned doe indicated the path Judy intended to take.

 

“It would be strange.  If we were just work partners.”  Judy felt that was delivered a little heavy-pawed.  She hoped it didn’t seem snide.

 

“I knew it.”  Eli smirked.  “You are totally dating a fox.”

 

“Actually…”  Judy shuffled her paw on the floor a bit. 

 

“You can’t bait me like that and pretend you aren’t dating him, Judith Laverne Hopps,” her sister pulled a red and white pajama shirt over her kit, who was still in giggle-fits.

 

“Wilde,” Judy corrected.

 

“Huh?”  Eli blinked, peering up at her from beside the sink.

 

“Judith Laverne Wilde.”

 

There was a painfully long pause as Eli sat frozen there.  It was a tense moment for Judy.  She felt like Eli was pretty traditional for a bunny, but at the same time, she was all about inner peace and others finding their own path.  Even when it came to Judy’s risky life as an officer, she’d been at least passively encouraging.  She didn’t tell Judy _not_ to be a cop, at least. 

 

She stood up, smiling and shaking her head as she finally managed to get out the words.  “The reason… I think that you are messing with me… is that you would have never failed to invite me… out of _any_ of your sisters… to your wedding.”

 

“Fox weddings are not… big family affairs, Eli.”  There was a clear tone of ‘confession’ in Judy’s voice.

 

“Oh my God…” Eli sat down.  “You can’t be serious…”

 

“There will still be a little ceremony with family, yes… But Mom and Dad were there.  They were the ones who had to be.  It really happened.  I’m married.”

 

“You… You’re serious.  You… You _married_ that goofy thing?”  The words were not exactly what Judy expected.  Eli got back up and began to laugh, hugging her sister tightly.  Judy held still, not hugging back right away.  Was she upset or what?  She couldn’t deny that Nick could be silly, so the connotation was not entirely negative, but it was hard to read.

 

“Oh… Yeah.  I did.  I’m sorry you have been in the dark so long about it.  It’s not something I wanted to share with a family email or something.  A bunch of you still don’t know.”

 

“Wait… What?  How long have you been married?” she pressed.

 

“A couple months now.  Not long,” Judy murmured.  She knew that for some the scandal was not going to be that Judy married a fox, but that she basically eloped as far as most of the family would be concerned.  It helped that at least her parents were there.

 

Eli suddenly laughed in her sweet high-pitched tone, making her kit laugh again.  The poor little thing had the hiccups.  “So, wait… this happened when Mom and Dad went to skin you alive after the Interior thing?  You got out of your totally justified bunny beat down by… turning it into a wedding?!”  She nearly cried with laughter.  Judy folded her ears back.  No that’s not what happened.  “That’s genius!  Okay, so… yeah, bringing your mother in law with you on holiday makes way more sense than bringing your partner’s mom.  I can’t wait to tell his mom about the milk incident.”

 

“She knows about both milk incidents, actually.”  Judy smirked at denying her sister that mischief. 

 

“Both?  There was another?” she asked.

 

“You sent him another bottle of milk, Eli,” Judy reminded her.

 

“He drank that, too?!” she gasped incredulously.

 

“Of course he did!  Pouring it out would have been so rude!” Judy insisted, not sharing how her mate was feeling about everything when it happened.  He was still overwhelmed by Judy’s strength in bringing him back into the light.  That was the night that truly began their romance… the night that he vowed himself to her.  The doe burst into laughter again.  Judy decided not to try to explain the deeper complexity of it all.  It was too important to her to have her well-meaning sister pick at it.  At least she didn’t seem to hate the idea.  Maybe it really wasn’t going to be a big deal to anyone who she genuinely cared about.

 

The next half hour or so was spent catching up with Eli about things in Bunnyburrow, and telling her what it was like being married to a fox.  She didn’t ask the obvious questions about her love life, she interrogated instead about the actual reality of living with Nick.  Did they run into trouble with their dietary differences?  Did her fox eat gross things in front of her?  Did they have trouble at work because of their relationship?  Was it even allowed?  They were remarkably sensible questions about what Judy’s new life was like and she appreciated that.

 

They wandered back downstairs and Eli got to meet their new family members in the fur.  She didn’t really talk about the wedding, mostly interested in how Vivienne was enjoying Bunnyburrow.  They hung out for a bit, Nick still entertaining the younger kits until Angela suggested taking Viv to The Mill for lunch.  Judy agreed that was a fine idea and it would give Bonnie and Stu time to finish getting things ready for the other Hopps siblings that would be arriving through the day.  Judy could tell it was stressing her mom out, and she and Nick had arrived pretty early. There were no nay votes to that from her parents as a result. 

 

Charlie wanted to go, but agreed instead to stick around and help, since he’d gotten out of most of it by being the one designated to pick up Judy and her foxes.  Sammie agreed to help as well, so that made it so it was just Angela.  That was fine.  It had been an eventful morning and a little downtime and a meal sounded like a fine idea.  With that in mind, off they went.

 

 

 

 *************

 

 

 

The Mill was a lot busier than it had been the first time that Judy had taken Nick there, but that was kind of expected. It was the start of the holiday season and a lot of folks were arriving from the surrounding boroughs to enjoy holiday with family.  It was tradition for many to take family there for lunch.  As a result, despite it being fairly cool, they opted to sit outside at the tables on the second level, since it would be a lot quieter.

 

Nick and his mom both ordered black bean salads, and Judy and Angela decided to share a fruit and cheese platter.  Angela teased Nick a lot, and his mom really enjoyed that.  It was easy to understand why.  The carefree nature of the chiding was exactly how family was supposed to be.  It told Vivienne that Nick was a part of this family.  He belonged.  It was what he wanted most out of life, and here he was.  It obviously delighted the vixen.

 

Food arrived and less banter happened as they enjoyed it.  Viv confessed that she had been able to try more new eating establishments with her son in the past year than she had in her whole life before that.  Nick spoiled her when he had any opportunity.  It was a quiet, happy meal for a while, but was ultimately interrupted by a delighted cry a few tables over.

 

“Judy!”  The bunny looked up, seeing the source of the voice.  There was a rather lovely, slender, well-groomed black sheep.  She recognized her immediately, despite the lack of previously trademark braces.

 

“Sharla!”  She got up from her chair and the sheep did the same, tapping on over on the upstairs outside deck.  Nick and his mom remained seated, but Angela got in on the hugging.  Sharla was one of Judy’s closest friends before college, but they ended up not going to the same school, so they had fallen out of touch aside from the occasional email, and trading holiday cards each year.  Sharla had been the friend who cheered Judy’s aspirations on the most when she was younger. 

 

“Oh my goodness, how have you been?  I am so happy to find _you_ here, you have no idea!  Gosh, I’ve seen you on the news like… every few months.  You must be driving your mom and dad to their wit’s end, _Officer_!”  Her saying officer was obviously intentional to congratulate her for her success in the academy.  They hadn’t spoken face to face since just after graduation.  “Wait, is that your partner?  I saw him on the news too!  Hey, I’m Judy’s friend, Sharla!”  Judy smiled at her old friend.  She seemed energetic enough, but the bunny felt a deep sense of apprehension as she was reminded who she was with.

 

“The teacher, right?  Second grade?” Nick remembered.

 

She nodded.  “…for now, yes.  I’m gonna switch to fifth because there’s a vacancy that needs to be filled.  Cool that you know, though.  Cops are sharp though, right?  They gotta be.  I ain’t surprised.  Bet there’s a bunch of sharp foxes that get overlooked in the crowd, you know?”  Judy tried to mask her displeasure at that.  There is was.  Sharla was not exactly a fan of foxes.  The bunny could not completely blame her friend.  She had her own issues that she was not even wholly aware of until the mess at the press conference, so she knew fears and misgivings took deep roots, even in her.  She didn’t even look back to see what her mate and mother-in-law’s expressions were from that.  She tried to just press past that.

 

“You will get to see the kits you taught a few years back once again - I bet they’ll be thrilled!”  Judy laughed as she said that because she remembered that as a kit she was usually glad to be past any teacher like leaving them was a personal achievement.  She was rambunctious and got under her teacher’s fur a lot when she was little, though. 

 

“I heard you got a promotion though, you’re still stuck with this guy?” the sheep quipped, nodding to Nick.  Judy glanced back at him, seeing his ears fall back.  Sharla didn’t know. She had absolutely no idea that they were close.  Did she think that Judy was really just stuck with a fox she hated or something?  She was on the front page having saved him.  It was common knowledge.

 

The bunny decided to make it very clear that Nick was not a burden to her.  “They keep me with him because they know it would wreck me to take him away.  He’s mine.  I’m keeping him!”  She crossed her arms, but grinned sunnily hoping that would end that.  She tried to keep her tone positive and light, not wanting to make it apparent to either fox behind her that there was maybe a problem there.  They were home for the holidays for fun and family, not… whatever this promised to be.

 

“Hah!  Heck yeah, keepin’ even the foxes in line there in Zootopia, that’s my girl!”  The sheep hoof-tapped Judy’s shoulder lightly as she laughed.  The bunny was beginning to feel unmistakably angry at her friend.  She knew how Sharla felt, but it hadn’t really come up as an issue since she became an officer.  Memories flooded back about how sick with hate the ewe had been after seeing her much smaller friend hurt by Gideon. 

 

“Please, Sharla, he’s not something to ‘keep in line’.  Nick’s someone I care about very deeply.  We depend on one another for our very lives out there every day.”  Judy felt the stress in her own voice and knew without a doubt her observant partner would hear it.

 

It was his voice that came next.  “It’s alright, I know it probably seems different, a fox and bunny being that close.  She doesn’t have to walk on eggshells or anything.”  He was trying to push that subject out and move the conversation along, much as he redirected talk away from work for Judy’s siblings.

 

Sharla took it differently, though.  “I don’t recall asking you for your permission to have an opinion here, ‘Nick’.  This is between friends.”  She was definitely irritated. Judy’s heart immediately sank and she felt her lunch unsettle.  No.  Not this.

 

Vivienne folded her ears back tightly.  “That seems a bit harsh. We’re all friends here.  He’s trying to be nice about this.  He was _telling_ Judy that it was fine, not you.”  Judy held her breath.  No, please not this.

 

“I don’t know who _you_ are, but Judy doesn’t need permission for anything either.  I came over to talk to her.  Can we talk somewhere else, Judy?  It’s important.” implied Sharla sternly.  Judy stood by her chair.  This was awful.  This was absolutely awful.  She did not want to get into a fight with her former best friend right here in front of her family on the first day of her holiday.  She did not want drama on the vacation she wanted so much with Nick, Vivienne and the rest of her family.

 

“It’s okay, Fluff.  Go talk to her a bit, we’ll be here.”  Nick’s tone was soft and understanding as Judy looked back plaintively to him.  Leaving his side to go with her currently very rude friend did not seem like an okay thing to do at all.  Vivienne appeared worried, but Nick had his calm ‘mask’ up.  It was hard to see how he really felt.  He likely didn’t want Judy to have to be embarrassed by her friend either.

 

“There he goes again, acting like you need his permission!” Sharla scoffed.  Judy was immediately reminded of Swinton’s assistant on the plane.  “Is that why you still have him as a partner, Judy?  Is he controlling you?”  The doe felt a spike of rage flash through her.

 

“You need to shut up now.”  That threatening tone came from Angela.  Judy glanced over to the black bunny who had smoldering eyes fixed on the lovely black ewe.  The bunny cop shook her head quickly. No. Do not fight. 

 

Vivienne beckoned to Angela.  “Sit down, sweetie, it’s fine, Judy can talk with her friend.  We’ll wait here.”

 

“What, are you her mom now?” grumbled Sharla.  “This is ridiculous, Judy.  What happened to you?  You’re better than this.”

 

“She’s my mom, actually,” Nick stated with a smile, obviously trying to deflect.  A hard glare was his reward, the sheep pausing to perhaps try to think of the most destructive thing she could say in public to a fox.  Judy was at her limit.  This was as bad as it needed to be and she felt absolutely sick.  She was stopping it now.

 

“Leave, Sharla.”

 

“What?” the ewe snapped her stunned gaze to Judy.  The doe looked around, seeing a few other patrons cast their gaze away, not wanting to get caught staring.  She did not want this kind of attention.

 

“I said go,” she hissed.  “If you aren’t going to be civil to my family, then go back to your table and let us finish our meal in peace.  I have nothing else to say to you right now.  We can talk about this later.  Please.”  Judy pushed her anger back.  Sharla wasn’t bad.  She was just wrong.  She’d been wrong a long time and this was not Judy’s fault, nor was it up to her to fix right then.

 

“I wasn’t being uncivil to your family, just to the pelts that seem to think they’ve got you in a cage!” she gestured to Nick and Vivienne.  Nick’s expression was still calm, if a little crestfallen, but Judy felt a jolt of distress at Vivienne’s visage.  The last time he saw the vixen’s eyes glare like that, they were staring down the shaft of an arrow at another sheep.  Those eyes were ice cold.

 

“They _are_ my family, Sharla,” Judy growled in a dark tone, making sure there was no question from that moment forward that it was her choice.  How could Sharla honestly believe that Judy was being… what?  What was supposed to be happening here?  She was being abused by these foxes?  That wasn’t even rational!

 

“You can’t be serious,” the ewe delivered flatly.

 

“I want you to leave, now.  That’s how serious I am.  I am _not_ going to discuss this right now.  We’re having lunch.  I’m not doing this with you right now.”  Judy crossed her arms.

 

“Judy, I came to you for help!  This is not you!” Sharla cried out plaintively, moving closer.  Judy tensed up.  She didn’t want to have to lay out a former friend in front of all these mammals. 

 

Angela grumbled, “You have a strange way of asking for help.”

 

Sharla was visibly agonized.  “No joking around, Jude.  This is serious.  Are you really like… with a _fox_?  C’mon.”

 

Judy spoke resolutely.  “Yes, I am.”  With full knowledge that everyone on the upstairs deck was probably training their mostly lapine ears at her table at that point, Judy made a very important choice.  There would be no walking this back.  “I’m married to him actually.”  There was a flare of pride in her voice.  She wanted to make sure Nick could hear it.  “I figure most of Bunnyburrow will know it soon enough now, but I am absolutely with this fox.”  Nick sighed heavily.  There was definitely murmuring around them.  This was not how he wanted the story to get out, and the bunny cop knew it.

 

“God, how hard did Gideon freakin’ hit you?” she growled. “I was _there_ , Jude!  Remember?  Gareth needed freaking _counseling_ after that!  He had damned nightmares!  He never got better and now we can’t even _find_ him!”

 

Judy pushed all her feelings away instantly.  This was a completely different matter.  This no longer had anything to do with foxes.  Realization dawned on Judy that maybe it never did.  “What?  When did he leave?” she inquired.  She knew that Gareth had issues after the incident, but that was a really short-lived thing.  He got over it. He even had a fox friend in high school.  Judy remembered that very clearly.

 

“A couple months ago, right after you got back from The Interior, Judy.”  Sharla sounded pained.  “Do you know how that _looks_?”  She turned around, little keratin hoof-points clenched. She whispered mindfully, “He goes missing after the big sheep conspiracy comes to light.  You know what everyone’s _thinking_ , right?”

 

“And you wanted me to help with that?  Clear your brother?” Judy clarified, her voice wavering.  Her viciousness toward Nick suddenly felt weighted with something else.  She was hurting and lashing out in fear and pain. Her distaste for foxes was just the path of least resistance. 

 

“No, just to find him!  I know he had nothing to do with that, and so do you!  He coulda been hurt by idiots out there who think otherwise, though!  Please.  Bo, our dumb sheriff, wants nothing to do with it and I know it’s political.  If Gareth even looks like he _might_ be involved with Lanolin, no one with wool wants to help.”  Judy felt a wave of despair for her friend.  She hung her head, feeling near tears.  This was actually one of the hardest parts about being a cop.

 

“Sharla… Because of how involved I am in the open investigation that’s still going on with that… you have to know I can’t help you clear him.  It’s a deep conflict of interest.  He’s a friend, and so are you.  I can’t get involved.”  She trained her attention back on the sheep.  Of course Sharla had a horrified expression.  “Now… That doesn’t mean I don’t know someone who _can_ help.  Here…”  She took a napkin from the table and wrote down Detective Pawlander’s information.  That was definitely someone who was not attached with local sheep politics who would help her friend better than possibly anyone else on the force.

 

“What?  No.  Hell no.  Don’t just push this on to someone else.  I want _you_ to help me.  You can solve anything.  I know it.”  Sharla backed up a little, as if the napkin contained poison.

 

Judy sighed bitterly.  “You can’t think I do all of that without help, Sharla!” she insisted. “This is one of the best detectives in the precinct, and he owes a favor.  It doesn’t get better than this.  If there’s help for Gareth, it’s here!”  She held up the napkin.  “I’m not a super hero.  I’m just a cop.”

 

“You know what…”  Sharla backed up a little, voice choked.  “I thought I knew you.”  Judy’s heart sank.  Of course.  Sharla was too afraid right now.  Nothing was reasonable and she was under the impression that Judy was the only friend who could help her.  “I get it.  The sheep did bad stuff to you.  Hell, to that fox too.  I saw the damned video.  Sheep hurt you more than Gideon ever did.  So… You just... have fun being a… a predo squeaky toy.”  There was a collective gasp around them.  Judy stood firm.  “I’ll probably find my brother’s half-eaten butt in the woods or something!”  She pivoted on her hoof and stomped off loudly enough to leave grooves on the wooden deck.  Judy crumpled into her chair, dropping the napkin on the table, cupping her muzzle, tears spilling.  She knew folks were staring and she just wanted to be anywhere but here.

 

She felt so completely helpless.  She lost a friend for absolutely nothing.  It was hate that had nothing to do with either of them.  It was all so pointless and empty.  She heard Nick’s chair scoot, and he was over her, holding her in a moment.  If anyone had been watching that, no one had anything to say about it.  Judy was sick with grief over this.  She wanted to rush in and help Sharla, but she wasn’t allowed to just take any case someone came to her with.  She wasn’t a private eye.  If the precinct assigned the case to her, sure, but that wasn’t going to happen.  Not when she knew the possible victim personally.  She hoped nothing genuinely happened to Gareth, but she wasn’t going to pretend it was impossible.  There were reports of angry mammals lashing out at sheep after the incident with Bellwether and with The Interior.  But there were plenty of other reasons that he could have been missing too. Even just a hike going bad or something could have been to blame.

 

“I’m sorry that happened, Sis.  Your job’s rough enough without that crap,” Angela stated, coming over to her as well.  Judy managed to get herself back under control mostly, reassured by her family.  She had offered what help she could to Sharla.  There just… wasn’t anything else she could do about that.  She would call Pawlander herself to have him follow up with the Gareth Shearer case.  The local sheriff ignoring it was not going to fly, regardless of his reasoning.  Looking up, Judy realized a fox was missing.

 

“Wh-Where’s Viv?”

 

“She took that number you wrote down and went after Sharla,” Angela explained.  Nick nodded.  Vivienne really was very sweet.  After all the stuff that was said, she still went to try to help. Judy sighed, taking another napkin and cleaning up a bit.  This was not what she wanted, but what more could be done?  She wished she could help, and she tried, but her friend was understandably scared.  Maybe Vivienne would be able to calm her down and talk some sense into her.  If she wanted to help Gareth, if there was any help to be had for him, she had to do it right.

 

What a rotten way to start their holiday.


	3. Fire and Foxes

 

****Winter Hearth** **

_ _Chapter 3:  Fire and Foxes_ _

 

 

 

 As Judy glanced up, she found that at least the other patrons were not actively staring their way.  However, the patio, busy as it had been during that display, was much, much quieter.  The bunny saw a few phones out, texts of the loudly proclaimed news probably being shared.  She would be making an announcement to all her gathered siblings in a few hours.  She didn’t care to have the news reach them however it would otherwise.

 

“We should… probably just pay our tab and head out,” Angela sighed dejectedly.  “Geeze, I can’t believe she did that… That she said all that… stuff…”

 

“She’s not herself right now,” Nick expressed.  Judy snapped her attention to her mate.  She loved her fox so much for how positive he could be in the face of that, but this was too much.

 

“Nick, hating foxes is not new to her.  She never got over the incident with Gideon.  I just didn’t think she could be so… openly vicious about it.”  She felt a tug at her heart again. She lost a friend.  That’s what happened.  The realization was really starting to hit her.  Judy tended to retain friends very well.  She tried to be understanding, responsible, and she always listened.  This sucked.  It hurt and she was angry and sad.

 

“I get that, Carrots…” Nick pulled her against him again, speaking softly.  The conversation was now no one else’s business.  “I’m not saying her feelings were only because of what’s going on, I am saying her anger was.  She wasn’t angry at me.  She doesn’t hate my mom.  She’s just terrified and hurt and doesn’t know how to deal with a very scary problem that she thinks no one wants to help her with.  I don’t take it personally, and I think you will eventually talk with her and put this mess behind you.”  Judy shook a little, forcing back her emotions again, pushing her cheek tighter against Nick’s dark-colored shirt.  “It’s too early to throw dirt on this, Judy.  Mom will give her the number for the detective and help her understand that you really __do__  want to help, and putting her in contact with Pawlander is the most helpful thing you could do.  My mom can smooth over a dispute between drunk badgers, you know.  I think she can handle your sheep friend.”

 

Judy looked up, ears falling back.  “Her history of handling sheep conflicts is a little troublesome, actually.  I hope they don’t fight…”

 

The fox tilted his head, grinning.  “What?  This is Mom we’re talking about, Fluff!  Your friend’s in good paws.”  Nick shot a glance across the table.  “And she left the silverware,” he tacked on.  Judy laughed.  Angela returned from inside, having picked up the check herself.  She was eager to leave, and the other doe knew why.  They would need to start telling family members the news before social media got it.

 

“We’re all sorted,” the black bunny said with a huff.  “I didn’t see woolly-butt or Viv, but there also wasn’t obvious carnage.  Should we wait at the table for her?”

 

“That’s fine,” the fox replied.  “We can stay a bit.  If it takes too long, I’ll just call her phone, she’s got that with her.”

 

“Before you leave…”  The voice came from behind Judy.  She turned, expecting to see a manager for the place after the outburst.  She didn’t immediately see anyone.  Reflexively, she glanced down.  Mammals were in all kinds of sizes.  This was the case here too.  A brown-toned lady rat in skirt and smart-looking vest stood by her, backing up a little in case Judy were to stand to greet her.

 

“Oh, hello.” Judy smiled down to her.  It was rude to stoop down, she knew.  She didn’t deal with a lot of rodents, but she knew that.

 

“I’m Tandy Brie,” she held out a paw in a fist-bump gesture.  Judy put a single knuckle out and gave the naked pink paw a touch, as was polite to do.  The rat was, like most of her kind, considerably larger than a mouse, coming about to the doe’s mid-thigh.

 

“Judy H…Wilde,” she smiled as she greeted.  It was still something she was getting used to.

 

“So you meant it.  You weren’t just putting a pie in that ewe’s face.”  Judy sucked in a slow breath.  She really didn’t feel like talking about this.

 

“It’s a personal thing,” Nick said softly.

 

“Not anymore, I can about guarantee that,” Tandy laughed.  Judy’s look of ‘not amused’ stopped her.  “Look, nothing bad about it, okay?  And most here feel the same.”  The rat effortlessly scurried up onto the table with the help of little tabs that were placed along the leg for just that purpose.  It made talking to her less awkward, and it made it obvious that she intended to talk.

 

Nick continued to speak as Judy looked at curious beady black eyes.  “We haven’t made any announcements about this because it really is just about us.  We don’t need conflict, fanfare, all that.”

 

“It’s just about us.  No one else,” the grey bunny repeated.  

 

Tandy crossed her little arms and nodded.  “I guess that’s expected, but I still feel like it’s important for you to know that even though there’s other bullies out there who just hate seeing others who are happy in a way they might not be, there’s still more of us.  There’s still more mammals who see something like this and can empathize.  I’m a reporter for the Bunnyburrow Gazette, and I want to let you tell the story straight, so rumors don’t boil out of the peanut gallery and damage you, your mate, or your family name.”

 

“Of course you’re a reporter.”  Nick sat down in his seat.  Judy felt the irritation pulse off of her partner.  He was not terribly friendly about reporters because they tended to enjoy pushing an agenda with their stories, be it their own, or an agency’s.  It was rare to find one that just relayed facts.

 

“Hey, don’t say it like a swear word,” Tandy laughed.  “I’m being fair here.  An interview.  I can even have it so I say nothing but what we talk about.  It’s a fair offer here, better than you are gonna get on the grapevine, I promise you.”

 

“And that interview as an exclusive would make you a lot of money,” Nick grumbled.

 

“And you make your money your way, and she makes her money her way,” the rat lady pointed at Angela.

 

“Hey, I don’t make money at all, so there’s that blown out of the water,” the black doe laughed.

 

“Point is, it’s private, as we said,” Judy stated, “Mammals are gonna say whatever they want and the real story won’t matter, and we don’t care.  It only matters to us, and our families.  And most of my family doesn’t even know yet, so I am sure you can see why my giving an exclusive interview to the Gazette would be in poor taste.”  The doe sat back a little and sighed again.  At least the discussion took her mind off what Sharla had done that caused this dilemma in the first place.

 

“It will only be three… no… five questions.  I promise.  And if your friend gets back before I’m done we can end the interview, okay?”  Judy stared over to her partner, who seemed to actually be conflicted.  They were going to be there until Vivienne got back, so their other option would be to sit there and ignore the curious rat until then, or entertain her questions.

 

“May I refuse to answer a question and have you choose another if I desire?” Judy requested.

 

“And no questions about our love life.  You have to ask only questions you are willing to answer yourself,” Nick added.

 

“Darn it…”  Angela shrunk back in embarrassment after saying that, seeming to have not meant to respond out loud.

 

“Deal,” Tandy held her paw out again, and Judy gave it a deft little touch with her knuckles again.  Beady eyes peered at the bunny, then the fox a moment, as she appeared to collect her thoughts.  It was proof that she expected to get shut down.  There was certainly nothing imposing about her, but the reason that a lot of rodents ended up reporting the news was because folks didn’t always see them while ‘news was happening’ so they were great at bringing back a story.

 

Finally, she seemed happy with the selection of her first question.  “When and where were you married?” she asked.  Judy perked her long ears.  That was certainly a harmless question.

 

“New Reynard, Two months and four days ago.”  The rat patted her vest down and took out a little slip of folded rice paper and a tiny felt tipped pen as rodents tended to use.  She wrote that down.  

 

“My turn,” Nick interrupted.

 

“What?” Tandy inquired, little black eyes wide and round.

 

“When and where were you married?”  She stared back silently.

 

“It’s fair,” Angela observed.

 

“I’m not married,” Tandy stated slowly.  She was obviously confused, as if she’d never been offered a question during an interview in her life.  Judy gazed lovingly at her husband.  She understood.  If he was going to bounce back to her any question they got asked, she would be careful about where she pried.

 

“Your turn,” the fox chimed.

 

“Uh… Right…  Yes…”  She took a moment to digest these new rules, not challenging the fact that Nick just made them on the spot.  “So… umm…  Does… Does your relationship cause conflict with your work?”  Judy found the question to actually be fair and professional.  It was a sensible question.

 

The bunny answered with a smile, starting to feel the sting of Sharla lessen.  “The feelings would be there whether we called it a relationship or not, actually.  We’re a family.  Ultimately, everyone who pins a badge on and risks themselves in the city of Zootopia for the common good becomes a part of the family.  We care for one another.  We hurt if one of us hurts, and we are all happy in each individual’s successes.  While we have obviously not made our marriage a public interest up to this point, no, I do not think it matters.  Our roles are ever-changing and dynamic, and we have to fill those however we can.  What we are to each other doesn’t change what we have to be for the public.”  Judy had actually given that answer some thought on more than one occasion because she originally felt it was going to be a fight she had to win with Tora.  The tigress temporary chief had shown no other interest in Judy or Nick, however.  The lady rodent scratched away at her little folded paper.

 

“Your turn, Officer Wilde.”  The rat smiled gingerly at him.  Judy knew why.  It was a question that was pointless to ask back to her.  She had outsmarted him.

 

Nick spoke in a clinically measured tone.  “Miss Brie, do you ever find that your own personal feelings, or the overall agenda of the media outlet you work for, change the way that you represent the story that you are trying to tell the people of Bunnyburrow?”  Judy flinched slightly at that.  It was a pretty accusatory thing to suggest, even for Nick.  The rat stared back with very wide eyes.

 

“N-no, of course not.  I have a job, a __duty__  to the mammals in this community to represent the truth, and to tell them the actual news, Mister Wilde.  My feelings are important to me, but the obligation I have to … to the community…”  She faltered.  Judy peered at her smug partner.  It __was__  the same question.  It was literally the same question.  The root of what Tandy had suggested was that maybe Nick and Judy couldn’t do their jobs with how they felt for one another.  Nick had asked the rat the same.  He didn’t merely let her write down Judy’s answer and misunderstand its meaning.  He made sure she internalized the question.  Married or not, Judy and Nick were sworn to serve and protect.

 

“Your turn,” Judy prompted.

 

“Um… Okay…”  The rat looked a little lost.  This was a very different kind of interview for her.  She thought a moment.  “What… What advantages, Officer Hopps… Wilde… Uh, Judy…  What advantages have you found in being married to a fox?”  Judy grinned at that one.  It showed that the reporter had abandoned her actual questions.

 

“Are there advantages to being married to a fox?  Yes.  Yes there are.”  Judy nodded at that.  Nick stifled a laugh.

 

The rat laughed nervously.  “Oh please, something for the readers to relate to.  It’s really not a hardball question.  Does Nick being a fox help you in a way that maybe a buck would not?  I just want the readers to kind of understand your unusual life.”

 

“The question will cause mammals to speculate.  We’d rather not,” Nick informed.

 

“That’s why a sensible answer, even a boring one, will do,” Tandy pressed.

 

“Alright, when we are outside and it’s cold, he wraps his tail around me and it covers nearly my whole body.  That’s incredible.”  Judy nodded at that.  “Let’s see… what else…”  Judy tried thinking of advantages that were not just Nick specific that she could share.  “He sees well in low light, so if it’s late and I forget my charger in the kitchen he can run and get it without turning on all the lights.”  That sounded legitimately boring.  “I don’t have to change the lightbulbs in the apartment.  Ever.”

 

“Right, yes.  I think that’s enough of them.”  Tandy sounded pretty disappointed.

 

“Now, my question for you…” Nick grinned.  The rat flinched.  “If you and I were married, what kind of advantages might I find in __our__  new and taboo romance?”  The fox leaned in close.  Judy had to really fight not to burst into laughter.  The rodent backed up a bit, actually seeming fearful as Nick’s dark nose pad neared.

 

“Mister Wilde, I hardly think that’s comparable,” she laughed nervously.

 

“You only have to think of three,” the fox stated, resting his chin on his paws as they rested on the table.

 

“Um… I guess the same.  You’re bigger.  You could do stuff I can’t because I’m smaller.”  Judy appreciated what Nick’s question did.  It made it obvious that Nick being a fox wasn’t any more important to the dynamics of their marriage than if Nick were just a much larger rabbit.  The question was meaningless outside of what they knew most would privately speculate on.

 

“Okay, question… what, four?  Your go.”  Judy nodded at the rodent.

 

“Yes, of course.  I… Okay…  What made you both decide to become romantic partners?  Was it something that just kind of developed from working together?”  Judy leaned back from that.  There was way more that went into that than could be captured in an interview and reliably told to the public.  It was much too personal.  Her partner grinned, making it obvious that the return question was going to be absolutely brutal.

 

Judy decided to temper her partner’s response with a kind one of her own.  “I needed him.  I always will.  He’s kind, brave, generous, and supports me in every manner possible.  It wasn’t love at first sight.  I wasn’t attracted to him because he was a fox, if that’s what the question is.  I love Nick because of who he is.”  The bunny felt good to say it that way.  It was hard to explain it any other way without getting into personal and time-consuming specifics.

 

“I understand.  That’s actually very nice to hear.”  The rat wrote those things down.

 

“Nick’s turn!” Angela chimed, her tone making it apparent that she expected brutality too.

 

Nick actually whispered the next part so that no one else around them could hear it amid the normal restaurant deck chatter.  “Alright, Miss Brie, when did you decide that a ferret was who __you__  would be happy with?”  Judy’s eyes went wide.  What the heck?

 

“What.”  The rat backed up a little.  Judy then realized it.  When he brought his nose close, he took her scent.  And he found someone else’s.

 

“Are you telling __our__  story to the mammals of Bunnyburrow, or your own?”  Nick gazed with a serious, caring expression at the horrified rodent.  She looked down meekly, seeming to shrink away.  Judy was silently stunned.  When had Nick even started to suspect it?  He asked if __her__  feelings would affect the story.  He inquired about the advantages of dating outside her species.  He investigated whether or not she was married.  He knew.  Somehow, Nick knew.

 

“It’s personal,” she muttered, “Your story is safe to tell… to test the waters… to see how the mammals of this town… react.  They like you already, and you both live somewhere else.”

 

“We deal with people every single day who very much do not like us,” Nick explained.

 

“Their opinions don’t matter.  They have nothing to do with you,” Tandy insisted.

 

“Whose opinions should matter?” Judy’s partner inquired.

 

“Nobody’s.  You can love whoever you want!” the rodent stated with assurance.

 

The fox continued to speak.  “But it’s not their opinion of __you__  that you care about here…  It’s not about the two of you.  It’s about how it affects the others who didn’t make that choice.  Your friends and family.  They didn’t choose your life, but they could be affected by it.”  Judy again had to quietly stand in awe of her partner’s empathy with the situation.  

 

Tandy murmured quietly, “Judy’s family is deeply respected here, she shouldn’t worry about that.”

 

“You have one more question to ask, Tandy,” Nick stated.  The rat seemed flustered and emotional.  Judy could not have expected how deeply personal her stake in this was, and how seeing Judy’s best friend react the way she did actually affected her.  She had good reason for this interview, and making a dime off of it probably wasn’t it.

 

There was a long pause before the rat spoke again, this time looking at Nick.

 

“If the world as a whole rejected you, maligned you… If friends and family turned their backs… would you ever regret choosing this bunny?”  The doe in question held her breath.  There it was.  This was the absolute real reason for the rat’s desire to know their story.

 

“Nothing this world has to offer, dark or light, will be enough to question my vows, Tandy.  Not in this life or the next.”  Nick’s words were resolute.

 

“You are very strong to say that,” the reported half-whispered.

 

“It’s not about being strong.  Only about being sure.  Are you sure, Mrs. Brie?” Nick replied softly.

 

“Yes,” was her tiny response.

 

“Sorry about taking so long!”  Judy jumped at the sound of Vivienne’s voice.  She smiled at her fox-mom’s return.

 

“Thank you both…”  Tandy hopped down from the table with an elegant little pat, and then scurried off without another word.  That had gone nothing like she thought it would, but Judy hoped that talking to her had been helpful for the uncertain little rodent, and not harmful for them.  Only time would tell.

 

“Were you able to find the sheep?” Angela asked.

 

“I did.  She wasn’t really happy to be found, but I provided her with some advice.”  The vixen nodded curtly at that.

 

“Do you think she will take it?” Judy inquired.

 

“Oh, I hope so,” crooned the vixen with a smile.  “Did you leave a tip?” she nodded, regarding the table.

 

“I took care of it,” Angela informed.  “Did you want to finish your meal?  We can stick around, I don’t wanna rush you.”

 

“Nah, I’m good.  We should head out.  Judy’s gonna want to beat the rumor mill home, I think.”  The mentioned doe nodded emphatically.  Nick’s mom was definitely on the same page.  Everyone would be there tonight, and there was not going to be a better time to get it out in the open.  She only hoped that this holiday gathering would not be remembered for something dramatic, only the happiness that she brought home with her.

 

 

 

 *************

 

 

Vivienne explained what had happened with the bunny’s caprid classmate as Angela drove them home.  Sharla was not hard to find, as she was kicking the crap out of the inside of one of the stalls in the restroom.  Vivienne waited quietly for her to calm down, and then confronted the sheep as she exited the stall.  Viv explained that at first, Sharla wanted nothing to do with the older fox, letting her have it with every insult in the book before threatening to call the police if she tried to stop her from leaving in any way.  The older fox stepped aside.  Before the sheep left the restroom, however, Viv said she managed to reason with her a little.

 

The mother fox reported that she told Sharla that she could still help her brother, and that this whole mess wasn’t about Judy, her, or anyone else.  It had to happen.  Everything would be fine in time but she had to help her brother first.  Whatever Sharla was angry about, however she felt about foxes, the police, or Judy… family was most important.  Friends would be content to wait.  Sharla agreed about that, apparently, and stopped.  Vivienne stated she was able to give her some serious advice, just the two of them, and she gave her the information she needed to hopefully find Gareth, before wishing her luck.  She told Sharla that when she was ready, just email her friend.  These were bad days, and it __would__  get better.

 

The way Vivienne explained the scene playing out made the bunny feel a lot better.  Sharla really was just upset.  She didn’t really mean to act the way she did.  It was just a bad run of days for the sheep.  Nick and Judy, in turn, told the mother fox about the impromptu interview.  Strangely, Vivienne did not appear to be very upset about that.  They’d been married a couple of months, and dating a while too.  She noted only that she felt that they had been hiding long enough.  It was amazing to her that it had not fetched the public eye already.  No, it was finally definitely time.  She did not seem to think it was a mistake at all.  Most of the folks that Vivienne knew and associated with already knew, so it was less likely a secret, and more likely something everyone knew, but nobody talked about.

 

They arrived home, and Judy and Nick helped Stu and Bonnie set up for the Fire Dance.  At first, Judy’s father was adamant that they didn’t need to help, but Nick reminded him that they didn’t help with the breakdown of the Munch game.  It was their turn to help, and the buck finally relented.  The fox was still adamant that he didn’t dance, but Judy teased that with cider, anything was possible.  He replied simply that he didn’t trust being full of alcohol near a fire with his tail being as fluffy and flammable as it was.   As they worked together, Judy slowly forgot about the mess with her friend and looked ahead to the announcement she intended to make, going over it in her head again and again.  Bonnie and Stu headed inside to get some final food preparation done, making veggie soup in crock pots, and helped make all manner of cookies and treats.  They were also there to receive other members of the Hopps family as they arrived.

 

While most hung out inside, not caring to get roped into setup duty, the only one Judy had actually not expected would __want__  to come out to the playing green actually joined them.

 

“Didja bring more foxes?” asked Otto, her grandfather.  Judy’s blood ran cold at first, as Nick and his mother were both there with her, but she reminded herself that Pop-Pop didn’t hate her fox.  At least, her mate had __said__  he didn’t hate him.

 

“Just one.”  Judy nodded over to Vivienne who smiled at the eldest Hopps.

 

“Oh, your partner done got himself a young lady to court.  Good fer him.”  He nodded, adjusting his glasses.  Vivienne gave an uncharacteristic sharp giggle.

 

“That’s my mom, Otto,” Nick deadpanned.

 

The old bunny buck shuffled over to Nick and poked him with the cluster of four tennis balls on the feet of his cane.  “Don’t lie to me fox, She ent old ‘nough to be my granddaughter.”

 

“Ow!  No, I’m serious.  Mother, this is Otto ‘Pop-Pop’ Hopps.  Otto, this is Vivienne ‘Accomplished Archer’ Wilde.”  Viv bowed kindly to the bunny.

 

She stated melodically.  “It’s true.  I’m this mixed-up thing’s mother.  Nice to meet you.”  Judy watched in dumbfounded awe.  Her grandfather wasn’t senile or blind, despite his thick, heavy glasses and advanced age.  He was bantering and, horrifyingly, maybe even flirting a little with Nick’s mother.  The bunny wondered if closed-minded Otto was actually less frightening.

 

“Okay, turn it down, Pop-Pop,” Nick laughed.

 

“Pop-Pop now, is it?”  He raised his cane again, causing Nick to slip behind Judy, hiding from it.  “Didja up and marry that bunneh?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Nick responded.  Judy’s guts instantly turned to cement.  Sure, she was going to announce it to everyone tonight, but she hadn’t even realized that it now meant telling __that__  Hopps bunny.  It happened so fast that she didn’t have a chance to plan it out or consider it at all.  The older buck narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between the foxes and Judy.  The doe peered back meekly.

 

“Did I… did I sleep through it?” he asked, sounding genuinely uncertain.

 

“No, sir.”  Judy wasn’t used to hearing Nick act so formal, but this was the head of her family, and her fox was now a part of it.  She was still paralyzed with horror.  Surely the old rabbit would not let this just slide.

 

“When did that happen?” he inquired, eyes still narrow.

 

“Two months past… in New Reynard,” Nick answered.

 

“Traditional vows and sech?” pressed the old lapine.

 

“Yes.”  Nick’s reply was frank and simple.

 

“I didn’t expect it until at least spring, but I guess with all the trouble you two get into in that crazy predator city, you might not make it that long.  ‘Tis understandable, then.  Good on ye.”  He nodded at that.  Judy nearly fell over.  Otto Hopps was okay with his granddaughter marrying a fox?!  He still managed to slip in a slight against predators, but a year ago Judy would have expected to get disowned to protect the purity of the family.  

 

“And remember, you win that disagreement with old Ronnie Cloverfield!” Nick chimed.  Judy flattened her ears.  What the hell was he talking about?

 

“Oh yeah!  YEAH!” cried the aged bunny, suddenly uncharacteristically animated.  “Oh, I’m gonna call his stinkin’ balding ragamuffin self right now!  Hoo hoo hoo!”  Inexplicably, Pop-Pop turned and shuffled off back toward the house.  Nick watched quietly a moment.

 

“Can you __explain__  any of that?” Judy inquired.

 

“When we were talking in the car, when he decided having a fox around wasn’t so bad, he said that he had a rival, long ago, who managed to win several bets against him.  A while back that rival apparently gave your grandpa a signed picture of himself with his whole family… It advertised that the Cloverfield family could never be outfoxed.  Reason behind that was…”

 

Judy interrupted.  “Wait, no, I heard… Ginny Cloverfield adopted a little fox in Deerbrook.  I heard Pop-Pop complaining about how it was ‘the fall of a great family’.”

 

“Wait, he… doesn’t like foxes?” asked Vivienne in a confused tone.

 

“He didn’t a while back.  He was pretty mean and nasty about it,” Nick responded.

 

“Oh.  Then he met me.  Never mind, I understand now.”  Viv nodded slowly.  Judy peered at her, not sure if she was being serious or not.  It was always so much harder to tell than with her husband.  

 

If Nick was going to correct her, he dismissed that idea, shaking his head.  “Anyway… the joke here is that I brought another fox to the family… and now the Hopps family has twice as many foxes as the Cloverfield Family.  Otto finally wins.  The Cloverfields have been outfoxed.”  Nick laughed at that and Judy groaned.

 

“We foxes get that joke in the workplace a lot, actually,” Vivienne stated.  “The connotation is different if you get the meaning.”

 

“I do not,” Judy admitted.

 

Nick answered with a sigh.  “Outfoxing your competitors, in manufacturing especially, means you keep your overhead down by hiring more foxes and paying them less.”

 

“That’s awful,” Judy noted flatly.

 

“Thank the nice vixen for following up the funny family rivalry story with that little gem.”  Nick glared at his mom before stacking yet more wood on the fire stack and putting a bit more lighting fluid on that.

 

“What?  It’s true!  I’m not being mean about it, it just suggests something different in the city!”  She crossed her arms defiantly at her son.  She then deflated a little.  “I’m sorry.  The sheep was just… brutal in the bathroom earlier.  I don’t mean to be a downer.”  Judy hugged Vivienne tightly, reassuring her.

 

“It’s alright, Mom.  I will at least know not to use that joke around city foxes.”  She hadn’t considered that Viv might have actually been hurt by the sheep incident with how strong she had been in handling it.  It appeared even Viv needed an emotional boost now and again.

 

“We are about ready, I think,” Nick observed.  He perhaps felt the awkwardness of chastising his mom playfully only to have her shrink back.  Judy could tell her mate was not used to that.

 

“I can go in and tell everyone.  I want some hot cider.”  The lady fox nodded.

 

“I can’t believe you drink that stuff hot,” Nick observed and waved his mom off as she laughed.  She was back to normal.  A moody Vivienne was painful, Judy discovered.  That emotionally warm fox should only ever be doling out hugs and laughing and teasing.  It seemed universally wrong to see her unhappy.

 

They remained there together as Vivienne went to let everyone know it was ready.  Stu and Bonnie were still entertaining the arriving family members and providing some family holiday cheer.  That left the two alone by the stacked bonfire wood.  It was taller than Judy was.  Nick had been very helpful getting it together.  It would be one of the largest fires they had ever made at one of these dances.  

 

It was not bitterly cold, so a light jacket was all that was needed.  Denim clad Nick and Judy both.  They had chosen a pair which kind of matched, and it worked for them.  Judy huddled up close to her husband and sighed softly.

 

“Hey, don’t be nervous,” Nick stated casually.  “I got the hardest one out of the way, right?  This is your family.  They aren’t gonna be upset.”  Judy nodded slowly.  “Well, except about not being told the day of the wedding.  Or being given an invitation.  And not getting to hang out with Jack Savage after the vows.  And not getting their own fox to cuddle and love.”  Judy rolled her eyes at her not-helpful mate, elbowing him in the ribs lightly.

 

“I just don’t want to see anyone mistreat you.  Watching Sharla do that to you was…”  The bunny was unwilling to say as foul a word as she could not help but come up with.

 

“Don’t think about that.  Sharla’s going through some messed up stuff right now.  Stop letting it eat you.  It’s gonna work out.  You’ll see.”  Judy nodded slowly.  

 

“Are you mad I let it out?” she asked.  She had been worried a bit about that.  He was obviously displeased when she said it.  But she was so tired of making it seem like something worth hiding.  She knew neither of them really felt that way.  They never had.  

 

“I’m not happy that it was forced out of you,” responded the fox.  “It was supposed to be something you could proudly express at a public gathering with friends and family, not dropped defensively in front of a bunch of strangers.  I wanted it to be a good memory for you.”

 

“Well, it’s done, and in a minute, before we get this party going, I’m gonna come clean to the ones who really matter, so today’s little episode we shall just… consider the dress rehearsal.”  The bunny chuckled at that lightly.

 

“Should we have Pop-Pop insult foxes to set it up?” teased Nick.  Judy punched his shoulder again.

 

Their cuddling banter was interrupted by the voices of approaching bunnies.  Nick backed up a little, not because he wasn’t supposed to be snuggling a bunny, but because he had not been ready.  There were a __lot__  of bunnies.

 

First, walking close with Bonnie and Stu, were the oldest of the Hopps siblings.  Jessie, Judy’s only littermate, was followed by Eddie who carried a box Judy recognized.  Fireworks.  Those were for the lighting ceremony and some for the kits for later.  Eddie was one of the most inventive of Judy’s brothers, and the oldest of Bonnie and Stu’s sons.  He likely made this year’s fireworks himself.  The hefty bunny was a bit shy, despite having four kits and having been happily married earlier than any of the other Hopps children.  

 

Charlie, Sammie, and Angela all walked together.  They each held a tray of cookies.  Those had likely taken Bonnie half the afternoon to make.  Frankie followed them with a few bags that likely held paper plates and the like.  For a change, she wasn’t wearing a hat.  One ear was up, the other was down.  The down-ear never went up.  It had been injured when she was a kit.  Normally self-conscious, she didn’t seem to care that night.

 

Eli, Ray, and Rebecca carried cases of Cider.  They were old enough to have it this year, so they got to be the ones to carry it.  Judy was aware that they had helped make some of it, so there was some pride involved there.

 

Danny, Danielle, Marcus, Mindy, and Mabel all came out together, laughing and joking and pushing and tumbling in the grass.  Nick laughed at them.  He couldn’t help it.  Fresh out of high school, these care free bunnies were still brimming with energy.  The youngest three of Judy’s siblings followed them, a little more cautious as they were following in the wake of the more rambunctious older rabbits.  This included Billy, Tanya, and Pete.  With them, clustered chaotically around a very cheerful-looking Vivienne, was something that probably gave poor Nick flashbacks of his arrival at the train station that morning.  It took the doe a moment to count them, since they were orbiting the older lady fox playfully, but there were eleven little bunny kits, all under the age of ten.  

 

Predictably, Nick cowered behind his bunny.  The Hopps siblings who were not old enough to enjoy the cider got the favorite task for the Fire Dance.  As Judy’s fox watched, Eddie handed a strong cardboard tube to the eight youngest of Bonnie and Stu’s kits.  They were elated.  This was also the first year that Pete was allowed to take part in this part of the ceremony, so he was super excited.  The little brown bunny skipped around gaily.  

 

“Okay everyone!  Gather round!  Come into the circle!”  There was a circle that was set up wide around the fire bordered by tables and chairs.  Bonnie was spreading out the plates and distributing treats and bottles of the cider where appropriate.  The rest of the bunnies all drew in closer, save for the very little ones.  Judy felt a little meek about the fact that she couldn’t likely name all of her nieces and nephews.  She really needed to come home more often.  The smallest of them all stayed over with Vivienne by one table where she had chose to take a seat.  

 

“Mom can come over here, right?” Nick asked, confused as to why she stayed back.

 

“She’s agreed to keep the grand-kits occupied for the lighting ceremony.  Don’t want them getting’ too close,” explained Charlie.  “She’ll get to participate, don’t worry.”  Vivienne grinned and waved frantically from the storm of fluff she was the center of.

 

“Family, it’s that time of year again.”  Judy’s father spoke very officially.  This used to be Otto’s duty, but it had finally been passed down right before Judy went to college.  “In each of our hearts beats the blood of a proud heritage of bunny farmers, but this family tills more than fields.  We plant the seeds of knowledge and personal growth in one another.  The harvest is tonight.  Come before the stack and tell the family a thing you have discovered.  Be honest, it’s not a contest.”  Judy smirked.  It was usually a contest, no matter what Dad said.

 

“That means you two, Angela and Jessie,” Bonnie interjected, finishing the placements and moving into the circle.  The previous year, Judy had not been present but had heard that the two shared scandalous information about one another, not themselves, and it had been an embarrassment to the family.  The fallout had put a swift end to their quarrelling, perhaps even for good.

 

“Once you have added your harvest of experience to our hearts and minds, you must turn and face the stack of wood.  Think of all those who have wronged you.  Think of every bad day, every unfortunate incident, and all the misery you have endured during the hardest parts of this long year.  I want you to think hard about those things and hold them in your paws.  When you have considered them, you will cast them onto the pile.  These things are memories, but their substance, the pain, does not follow you after tonight.  Let yourselves be warmed by their passing in the bonfire.  Open your hearts to the new year of harvesting.  Rotten grain has no place in the silo, and so your woes should not be held to spoil the joy of the year to come.  Youngest always goes first.”  Judy pulled herself closer to Nick and watched.  Other bunnies watched her, however.  It was not widely known that she was dating the fox, but her actions were no longer hiding it.  She didn’t need to.  Not tonight.

 

Judy looked over at Vivienne who was letting a couple of very tiny kits, perhaps only two or three years old, inspect her teeth.  It seemed rude, but for bunnies so young, they didn’t know.  A little tug in Judy’s heart reminded her that this was as close as the vixen likely expected to come to being a grandmother.  Still, she was so happy about the mob of wiggling, giggling kits as she spoke in a sweet, hushed tone to them and kept them busy with her wagging tail, flicking ears, and teasing foxy snarls.  Little kits were not interested in all this grown up stuff.

 

Pete came up to the unlit tower of stacked wood first.  He mouthed out his silent, stunned appraisal at the size of it, and then turned around.  “This year, I learned that it takes way more mammals to make a video game than just the one.  So if I want to be a developer, I don’t have to learn every single part, just the part I’m gonna help with.  So, I’m not so scared about how hard it’s gonna be.  I want to still do that, and so I’m gonna.  My bad thing I am putting in the fire this year is when me and Tanya got worms from playing in the creek and had to get pills in our butts.”

 

“Pete the bad stuff’s just for quiet!” Tanya fairly screamed.

 

“What?” he murmured, confused.  Riotous laughter ensued.  Bonnie moved over and whispered into Pete’s ear, and he appeared quite a bit horrified.  Then, he was quiet and turned around, thinking with his eyes closed and paws out before him.  He then motioned throwing those things in the pile, and left to go back to the circle.

 

Tanya was next.  She stood in front of the dark stack of wood as the sun continued to set, twilight overcoming the open field.  “I learned that girls can be just as good at Munch as boys cause Judy won.  I think doe bunnies can do whatever we want.  I’m gonna have the best year next year.”  She sounded happy and excited.  “Oh, and my bad memory is Pete telling everyone I got worms.”  She turned and threw that on the stack.  There was more laughter.  Tanya, appearing to not have much unhappiness to think about, immediately left.  

 

“I really like this tradition,” Nick whispered to Judy.  She smiled, feeling deeply glad of it.  It was one of the oldest ones for her family.  Each of her siblings got to come up and speak.

 

Billy learned where cheese came from and swore off of it.

 

Marcus, Mindy, and Mable, all eighteen that year, went next.

 

Marcus shared that his hero, Jack Savage, was dating a fox, and how cool was that?!  Judy felt a wave of anxiousness wash over her.  The rest of the family laughed a bit about it, but she didn’t hear anything actually disparaging.

 

Mindy shared a short tale about helping to find a missing kit after a storm, and stated that she wanted to be a firefighter.  Bonnie and Stu both groaned.  They had been there when Judy and Nick risked their lives in a fire earlier in the year.  It was scary.

 

Mabel shared that she was going to go to college because she enrolled in a program for bunnies in Zootopia, so she would be moving away in the summer to be ready for fall enrollment.  Judy expected her mother to be upset, but she applauded her approval instead.  Perhaps they were so hard with their oldest daughter because she was the first, and they had not gotten used to their kits leaving when she had decided it was time.  It was much more emotional for her.  

 

Twenty year old Danny and Danielle, the grey bunny twins, went next.  Danny learned that college was way harder than high school, and hoped that the following year he would bring up his GPA.  Danielle explained that college was way easier than high school because the other does there were not completely scatterbrained and they did better on team course work.

 

Eli made Nick squirm a little by informing the family that she had discovered foxes absolutely love bunny milk without actually naming any names.  It was met with some stares his way, and a bit of laughter, but she left it at that, throwing her cares and worries on the stack flippantly and stepping down.

 

Ray commented that an oil change required that you take the old oil out, but then put the new oil back in when you are done, and that his harvest included how violently an engine makes you aware of a simple mistake, and how unforgiving the mechanic can be about it.

 

Rebecca learned that her newest boyfriend was not ready for commitment, and bitterly informed the family that bucks were all limp, rotten carrots, and she was supposed to save that part for the silent time and instead she would like to change her harvest to now knowing how to play the guitar for whatever that was worth.  A slow, nervous applause followed that as she stood in front of the pile and mimed throwing armloads of stuff on it.

 

Nick gritted his teeth.  “Uhh, is that bunny okay?” he asked.  

 

Judy whispered back, “Yeah, she’s getting help, it’s alright.”

 

Frankie went next. She learned about new colors that are like blue, but they only exist in things that are gold.  There was another color that appears in silver when viewed through a crystal under moonlight.  That color was named rueshia.  Oh, and that salt packets in your pockets prevent leg cramps.  Nick watched, wide-eyed, as this was all relayed.  

 

“Herbal supplements, I think,” Judy shared in a super-hushed tone.

 

“I’ll let you be the one to frisk her later and search for contraband,” Nick whispered back.

 

Nick stood straighter as Angela’s turn came up.

 

“I learned…” she stated slowly, “That the things I used to think were exciting were only exciting because other mammals found them exciting.  I was approved, with a recommendation, for a grant and I’m gonna go back to college and hopefully in a few years, will work for the ZBI as a field investigator.”  Judy widened her eyes and she snapped her attention to her parents.  They softly applauded.  The doe put her ears down.  Oh sure, Angela just gets applause for that.  However, Judy was __proud__  of her little sister for that decision and didn’t have it in her to be bitter over her parents’ easy support.  Angela said it was a good year and she had nothing unhappy to burn.

 

Sammie went next.  “I learned that new friends find us when we need them, and that family will always be there.”  She was fighting back tears.  “I learned that even the darkest times can fall away under a bright enough light, that we all have that light inside us, and that we have no idea how bright a light can actually be.”  Judy watched, dumbfounded.  Sammie was really emotional and inspired this year.  Even her mom seemed a bit taken aback.  “I learned to believe in friendship and love more than I ever let myself believe and love before.”  Judy cringed a bit.  Had Sammie been eating Frankie’s brownies or something?  Sammie took some time quietly to discard things in the pile.  Judy understood that, at least.  She had made mistakes, and it was time to forgive herself for those, as Judy certainly already had.

 

Charlie went next.  “I didn’t learn a damned thing.”  

 

“You already got into the cider, didn’t ye’ boy?” Otto called from over by Vivienne’s table.  Judy hadn’t even noticed him shuffle over.

 

“Yup,” the relaxed-looking buck grinned.

 

“Darn it, Charlie, you’re supposed to wait,” scolded his dad.  “Say something useful.  You know I write these down.”  Stu was recording to take dictation from it later.

 

“I learned that __real__ foxes were way, way harder at munch than bunnies.  Amen.”  The slightly inebriated bunny pulled out a tuft of his own shedding fur from his side haphazardly and threw it on the pile.  Stu groaned a bit and shook his head.  When had he started drinking that evening?  He’d probably need to be carried to his room tonight.  Judy worried that, given his size, that would be fox-work.

 

Eddie, who worked at the local auto shop, took his turn.  He stated that fixing an engine where some dumb bunny forgot to put oil back in was the hardest thing he’s ever had to do, and he hoped never to have to do it again.

 

Jessie went after him, and talked about how being a big sister to a wonderful family was the best part of being alive.  She took that time to compliment everyone on all they learned, and hoped to be a bigger part of everyone’s story next year as she took on her role as assistant manager of Hopps Family Farm.  There was a loud applause for that, and she then took a moment to welcome Vivienne Wilde to Hopps Family Farms, though she was actually under the management of Gideon Grey.  The baker fox was not able to be there because of his own family engagements.  There was an even louder applause for Vivienne’s welcome and she practically glowed from it.  It made Judy feel less apprehensive.  If anyone was anti-fox, they were not choosing this moment to share it.  

 

What the doe was dwelling on, however, was that this was the __least__  competitive harvest she’d seen in some time.  She figured it had a lot to do with most of the older siblings knowing the announcement that was coming.  They were not likely to top that.

 

It was Judy’s turn.  She was terribly nervous, but went up to the pile anyway.  She looked quietly at her family, and at her happy mate.  She glanced around, seeing a gesture of encouragement from Vivienne and smiles from her parents.  They all were excited.

 

“I learned…” Judy began, smiling at her beloved vulpine, “… I learned that… while I thought the greatest thing I would ever do was becoming a police officer in the city of Zootopia… It was not.  The most wonderful and satisfying thing I have ever done, and maybe ever will, was marrying Nicholas Wilde.”  There was a collective gasp from about half of them, and a cry of ‘I knew it!’ from Danny.  Which was ridiculous because he was barely involved in anything that wasn’t Danny.  Judy breathed a deep sigh of relief as clapping became heavier applause, and that became cheering.  Even Pop-Pop stood by Vivienne, smiling.  

 

The doe took a slow, deep breath.  The thing she worried about most, the one event causing her nearly all of her stress, was done.  Her immediate family supported her.  They understood.  They knew the trials she and Nick had faced together, and were not going to question that she loved and needed her fox.  She managed to keep herself from crying and turned to face the pile of wood.  The clapping died down.  This was a quiet time.

 

Judy thought about the fateful Nighthowler case.  She thought about the mammals whose lives she made worse because she didn’t understand the harm of what she said.

 

She thought about how Nick looked as he vanished from her life shortly after that ugly moment of shameful myopia.  

 

Judy considered the dark heart of the sheep who attempted to murder her, and do much, much worse to Nick.  

 

She thought about the pain and sadness Nick felt as he revealed having lost his mother, not knowing she was actually still alive.

 

Judy remembered the misunderstanding she had with her partner, accusing him of hustling her family over the Munch match the last time they were here.

 

She relived the fuzzy memory of losing her apartment and then immediately being hit by a city bus.

 

The doe remembered for a bit the pain of losing her beloved, thinking he was dead and gone forever, and unaware of his suffering and isolation deep below the city.

 

She took time to address her feelings of anger toward Darmaw, and balled those emotions up especially tight.  Of all her siblings, she had done the worst thing, even if there was a good reason.  She had killed someone.  No one but Judy had fuel for the fire so terrible as that.

 

She thought about how they were perhaps only moments too late to save Ukweli, and how much his family hurt to find out he’d passed.

 

The bunny reflected on the death of Jonas, and how senseless the act of trying to destroy the history of the Origin Story had been.  

 

“Judy?”  She flinched a little as she felt Nick’s paws slip over her shoulders.  He pulled her back to lean against his tummy and chest.  She suddenly realized that she must have been thinking about those darker memories for far longer than was deemed normal.  She shuddered a little.

 

“Sorry.  Almost done…” she whispered.

 

“It’s a lot… a lot to hold, Judy.  I want to help you…”  He slid his paws down her arms slowly, to cup her own paws together where she was holding the overwhelming weight of a difficult year.  She’d won, she felt.  She came out on top, but it was not easy, and not everyone made it with her.  She heard her mother sniffle.  What everyone was seeing was easy to understand.  Nick was helping Judy lift more of a burden than any bunny deserved to carry.  

 

His gesture echoed into her very core and she closed her eyes, tears spilling from them, glad she had her back to everyone else as she leaned a little more against her strong mate.  He pulled her paws up and out in front of her, over the pile, soon to be lit.  

 

She thought about the terrible things her best friend said to her in anger, and how Sharla had hurt Nick and his mother both due to an old and meaningless hatred.

 

“Let it go…” Nick whispered softly.  Someone else gave a squeak of restrained tears, but the doe couldn’t tell who.  Judy didn’t realize that her paws had been clasped so tight together.

 

“Let it go, Bun…” her father repeated.  Judy shook a little, sucking in a deep breath, and then opened her paws, casting those worries, old tears, fears, and anger… a year worth of grief and stress… onto the dark cords of wood.  Nick embraced her and she turned quickly to hide her wiggling nose against him.  Never had a lighting ceremony been that hard for her.  But it was done and the applause from her family showed their full support.  They did not just support her during her victories, but also her defeats.  Nick was now a part of that family as well.

 

“Thank you Nick…” Judy whispered softly to her mate.

 

“It’s your turn, Son,” Stu spoke up.  “You’re part of the family now.”  Nick actually kept Judy by his side as he turned to speak to his decidedly massive new bunny family.

 

“I learned that I never liked dancing because I never had the right mammal to dance with.  But I’ve decided that I’m gonna dance tonight.”

 

There was loud applause and Nick and Judy both stepped away.  Bonnie and Stu gave their words of advice to the family rather than what had been learned.  Sticking together, standing up for family members new and old, and helping everyone grow.  It was inspiring and cheerful and helped Judy recover from her emotional task moments before.  

 

Vivienne, rescued from climbing, bouncing, squealing kits, finally got to go, and stated that she never believed that she could make a living doing something she enjoyed as personally as baking, but that the Hopps Family and Gideon made it possible.  She had them to thank for the realization that the best years of her life lie ahead, not behind her.  All that remained behind her was the most amazing tail in all of vulpinedom.  She gave that a shake.  Judy flinched in embarrassment at a cheer from Pop-Pop, and that got a huge applause.

 

Finally, having been patient as they could be, the younger Hopps siblings stood in a row with their little cardboard tubes pointed at the fire.  They were each handed a little stick with a glowing ember at the end.  They lit the fuses at the front of the tube, and Nick jumped a bit.

 

“They gave everyone bombs?!” he gasped incredulously.  “What’s wrong with you bunnies?”  Judy laughed at that and watched contentedly.  Her heart was glad for this moment and even more that she was able to share it with her new husband.

 

“Happy holidays, family, and we welcome all the joys and trials of the new year together!” Stu exclaimed.  Nick jumped again at the first loud foomp of a glowing red ball violently ejected from one of the tubes.  

 

“Oh wow…” he murmured.  “That seems a bit reckless…”  Then all the tubes started going off, three balls in each.  A fire roared to life in the tower of wood from the fireballs lobbed mostly accurately into the pile.  Everyone cheered as the Fire Dance tradition finally began.  Nick softened a bit as none of the bunnies exploded or burst into flames and then took Judy’s paw.  He had been genuine in his statement.  

 

For this bunny, on this night, he would dance.


	4. Holiday and History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I have been away for so long. I'm still trying to get my life straight after losing my job. I am working multiple part time jobs now and with other projects, it's just not been easy to write. I will take full advantage of every chance I have going forward though, as things are starting to slowly improve!
> 
> Season 3 starts soon!!!
> 
> (( so soon ))

 

**Winter Hearth**

_ Chapter 4:  Holiday and History _

 

 

Morning greeted a bunny with sore leg muscles.  While she was happy to dance, it was such a rarity for her.  She certainly had never done so much for so long.  A groan from her partner, who was sitting up by that point, made the point that wakefulness was not actually welcomed right then.  His tone was confused about the incredible level of noise coming from downstairs.  It was the intense excited squealing of bunny kits of various ages downstairs.

 

“Are they on fire?” Nick asked blearily.

 

The bunny smirked, sitting up as well.  “They’re opening presents, Nick.  I know foxes do presents.  We should join them.”  The doe crept up close and wrapped her arms around her shirtless, sleepy mate.  “While you try to hide it, I know you packed one for me.”

 

The fox perked up suddenly, wrapping his larger arms around his bunny.  “… And I know you packed like… a half dozen of them for me!”  He whipped his tail around excitedly.

 

“Those are not all for you!” scolded the smirking lapine.

 

“Are _any_ of them for me?” he replied with a playful pout.  Judy rolled her eyes at the nearly kit-like fox.  What had she gotten herself into?

 

“Come on downstairs and find out!” the doe chimed.

 

“Stairs?” Nick whimpered, his ears falling back with a grimace.  He overdid it too.

 

“Come on.  We don’t want them to send the kits up to get us.  Trust me on that, Love.”  She helped her fox up out of bed.  With a bit of cooperation, they managed their clothes from the bags they’d packed and headed with some trepidation downstairs.  Judy was fully prepared for the kind of chaos that awaited them.  Nick absolutely was not.

 

Upon arriving in the huge den, Judy found that the back to back TVs which were mounted together in the middle of the room were both playing some kind of holiday music.  It was festive enough.  Nick didn’t venture a step further as he reached the entrance to the den.  It was loud, fluffy insanity.  Judy could not help but laugh at her mate as he watched in maybe-not-pretend horror at about thirty little kits darting all over the place.  What he had met last night had been direct family.  Many of these kits were visiting from the three neighboring farms. 

 

This was what Judy had not bothered warning her fox about.  It was called the Post-Fire-Kerfuffle.  The adults got to cut loose and have fun the previous night, and the kits were having their turn.  There was wrapping paper everywhere which was being slowly corralled by Charlie and Jessie.  It would all end up being burned on the remains of last night’s fire, traditionally. 

 

Nick spoke up, loudly ‘whispernig’ above the din.  “You said bunnies don’t have many things.  Everyone has things!” Nick pointed out.  There were little bunnies running around with toy cars, puzzles, books, prop farm implements, toy sword and shield, and four of them were wearing neon-colored fox-tails for use in munch games.  They were likely headed outdoors.

 

Judy called back to him, not finding the question whisper-worthy.  “We don’t, a lot of these are re-gifted!” Judy laughed.  “As kits, we tend to collect more stuff to keep us busy.  I still have some things here.  I suppose maybe I can bring a few things of mine back to Zootopia with me.  You mentioned I don’t take up any space in our apartment.”

 

“What?!” Nick yelled back to her, making it clear he hadn’t heard any of that.  Judy laughed at her slightly distressed fox.  It was okay.  Bonnie sauntered in, proud as always of the den full of fanatically happy kits.  Nick was provided with the largest possible cup of coffee.  He was almost flamboyantly grateful for it, tail flitting about wildly again.

 

This was an instantly recognized mistake, however, as it got the attention of about ten smaller kits who wanted to touch.  Fortunately, Nick was very gracious about that.  Six or seven of them got to give that plume of fluff a hug.  While it was poor manners to grab a fox’s tail generally, the doe’s mate was very patient with her younger family members.

 

By the time Nick was at the bottom of his mug, nearly all of the squealing, bickering, tumbling, laughing and giggling kits had wandered off to their favorite places about the house or out into the yard to play and enjoy their day.

 

“City folks tend to be really focused on all the _stuff_ ,” Nick explained as it grew comfortably quieter.  “I guess that wouldn’t be sustainable here.  They seemed super happy all the same though!”

 

“There’s always more to get than a new thing, you know,” his mate offered.  “Most of these kits have lots of chores to do to help keep things running smoothly.  It’s too much for the grownups if they aren’t helping out.  This is the one day where they are all excused from literally any chore.  They don’t even have to take a bath today if they don’t want to.”

 

“You couldn’t tell me that before I passed my tail around for hugs?” Nick whimpered.  Judy burst into a fit of laughter.  Nick drew his tail close and then pushed it away as if it were trying to snuggle him and he didn’t want it anymore.

 

“Your tail is fine, Slick,” the doe petted it herself.  It wiggled happily.  Her fascination with it early on had caused Nick to adopt a theme wherein that soft appendage had a mind of its own, and loved Judy just as much as he did.  “So much of what I had as a kit has been given to others by now.  It goes even beyond my younger siblings that I’d given them to.  We enjoy giving and getting gifts, but it’s also kind of fun to see something you loved making someone else happy.  It works out like that.”

 

“Oh?  That would be some of that famous bunny altruism there.  It’s nice to actually see it,” Nick stated in a kind tone.  “We didn’t do a lot of presents when I was little for obvious reasons, but I never really felt like I was missing out.”

 

“Until you turned fourteen or so and wanted whatever that new console game system was.”  This was said by the fox’s own mother as she came into the den behind them.

 

“You missed adorable fluffy doom, Mom,” Nick informed.  “And I rarely asked for anything.  You remember that one thing!” Nick laughed.

 

Vivienne laughed joyfully.  “I didn’t miss it, I helped wrangle it until they needed help in the bath after a Funco-Slime mishap.  And I remember the _one thing_ because you never _let_ me forget!  Nicholas, you had that little job that you were doing back then.  You could have bought it yourself!  I was teaching you financial prioritizing and responsibility.  Besides, I bought you a new bed so you stopped using that weird smelly straw mat thing!”

 

“It was a tatami!  They were popular!” Nick replied playfully.

 

Judy snickered.  “I remember that fad!  I was like… six…”  She then stared at Nick, realizing that he had a job by then.  He was only a young teen, but still, she sometimes forgot that he was that much older than her.  He really didn’t look it.

 

“See there, now you’ve aged me again, Mom.”  Nick crossed his arms and grumped.  Vivienne laughed at her son, and he finally grinned and shook his head at her. 

 

“So, presents time, then?” Angela pried as she wandered in behind everyone.

 

“Wasn’t yours on the pile?” Judy responded.

 

“It was - and I thank you very much!” Angela chimed, “All of your old course books will be a big help for me.  That can’t have been what you were originally going to give me, though.  You didn’t know that I was going back to school till last night.”

 

“I got you a new jogging suit,” the older doe replied.  “That ended up going to Eli.”

 

Her sister smirked again.  “Just as well.  Peach is not especially my color!”

 

“It’s so cars can see you!” Judy responded, crossing her arms.  “You have black fur!  Your jogging suit is black!  I worry!”

 

“Yeah, yeah… well… I wanna know what kind of gifts foxes trade in.”  Angela crossed her arms as well, making it clear she was sticking around for this.  While it was something of a private moment to Judy, Angela was still family, and she couldn’t think of any real reason to say she shouldn’t be a part of it.

 

“Alright… well… Wait here and I’ll get Nick’s present first, and we can start with that,” Judy said, smirking.

 

“Don’t worry, I won’t peek,” her foxy mate stated with a smug smile.

 

“I bet I know what it’s gonna be,” Angela pointed out, “I mean, you’ve been married a few months now, and you still don’t have wedding rings.  I’m betting it’s that!”

 

“Traditionally, we generally don’t do the gold wedding band thing,” Nick responded.

 

“Why not?” asked the younger doe curiously.

 

“Gold is one of the softest metals.  It can be bent and changed.”  Nick looked at Judy then seriously at Angela again.  “My vow to your sister cannot.”  She stared back at him wide-eyed.

 

“And now the bar for my future mate is set impossibly high. Thanks for that,” the younger doe deadpanned.

 

“See?” Nick grinned at her, “You thought I wouldn’t get you anything, but I gave you unrealistic relationship expectations.  We foxes are quite generous.”  The fox gave her a grin set to 100 percent smugness.

 

“But I didn’t get you anything.  I can go get you another special bottle of milk from the fridge,” Angela counter-smugged.

 

“What?” inquired Vivienne with a hint of confusion.

 

“Nothing,” snapped Nick as he stood up straight.  “You can go get your gifts now, Fluff.”  Angela laughed.

 

“This first one’s for Mom…  Wait here.”  Judy moved quickly into the other room.  She got the item she needed off the shelf in the dining room and quickly returned.  Angela glanced around and shrugged.

 

“I think Mom’s actually upstairs,” she stated helpfully.

 

“Other Mom,” Nick elaborated, nodding to his own mother. Judy knew it was going to take a little time for her siblings to really understand that these foxes were family.  It was okay, they weren’t malicious about it.  It really was odd.  She had in her paws a somewhat old-looking book. 

 

The grey bunny explained, “The best gifts in our home are usually knowledge, not objects.

 

“Holy Shh-trawberries,” Angela stumbled.  “Is that…  No way.”

 

“This is from mom and dad too, not just me,” Judy expressed.

 

“It _is_ ,” the black-furred bunny stammered.

 

“When I was recovering from my little machete encounter…” her sister flinched at that, “… I compiled all the information that was inside this book into a digital archive for my parents to use.  I mentioned that the Hopps family does a lot of re-gifting.  This is a good example.  This… is a Hopps family treasure.”  She handed the heavy, black wood-bound book to Vivienne.  With slightly trembling paws, she opened it, and gasped.

 

“Recipes,” Viv hissed under her breath.  Nick’s ears folded back as he also surely realized the value of what his mother held.  The pages were full of instructions, written by paw.  The early ones appeared quite old.

 

“All of them,” Angela clarified.  “All of our recipes are in that book.”

 

“Judy, I can’t… possibly accept something like…”  Viv’s tone was shaky.  “I can’t take something like this away from your family.”

 

The grey doe smiled.  She was prepared for this reaction from the vixen.  She murmured in a tender tone, “Mom, you made me a part of _your_ family.  You gave me something much more valuable.”  She pushed up against Nick’s side and embraced him lovingly.  “This is our way of reminding you that it goes both ways.  You and Nick belong to all of _this_ , too.  This book isn’t _leaving_ the family.  You’re both becoming a part of it.”  Vivienne choked a bit and hugged her new daughter.  Nick joined in on that.  Angela sighed dreamily at the sight, something that was uncharacteristic enough of her that Judy wasn’t sure if her sister was teasing about how sappy it actually was.

 

After some group cuddling, Nick spoke in a sly, not-so-serious tone.  “I don’t suppose you got me a PreyStation video game console.”  He sighed wistfully at the thought.

 

“You are such a kit, Nick!” Judy laughed.  “But no, you have that little job you’re doing at the ZPD and I was hoping you would experience the lessons of saving and prioritizing your finances.”

 

“Oh ouch, Fluff…” Nick grinned.  Vivienne was shaken from her awe-stricken mood and clutched her precious book of Hopps family secrets, laughing at her son.

 

“Stay there.”  Judy again ducked into the other room again.  This next item she’d placed in a cabinet to keep it safe.  She brought it back happily cradled in her arms.  Nick peered at it curiously as Judy handed it to him. 

 

“It’s a… potted plant?” the fox inquired.  He was obviously a little confused.

 

“Yep!” Judy chimed.

 

“You are such an old fashioned little biddy,” chided Angela, cringing a bit.  Judy grinned anyway.  Her husband hadn’t figured it out quite yet.  She watched as Nick inspected the shrub.

 

“Wait.”  He stared with wide eyes at Judy.  “This is… a blueberry bush!”  His tail began flitting around.

 

“Oh!  Nick loves blueberries!” Vivienne chimed helpfully.  Everyone knew that, of course.

 

“It’s a cutting from the one in the yard that you found the first time you visited,” the grey bunny explained, “I figure we can put it in a planter out on the balcony.  It’ll take a couple years, but you will get to have berries from my farm right in our own home.”

 

“That’s so sweet, Judy!” chimed Viv.  Judy knew her husband well enough to know he was aware of lapine customs.  This one was important.  In Bunnyburrow at least, a common first gift was something that a newly married couple could grow together.  Like a tree, Love, didn’t get smaller over time if you cared for it.  It grew.  The symbolism was important.

 

“It’s actually… incredibly thoughtful, Fluff.”  Nick was failing to act stoic, and had no teasing to offer.  His tail danced about to show his excitement.  That was the bunny’s best evidence that he understood that symbolism, and that once again she’d gotten to him.  She was happy about that.

 

Taking a deep breath to shake himself from his apparent bliss, Nick spoke up.  “It’s my turn for the selfless providing of things.”  He grinned and moved over to the tall window. There was a single box there labeled to Judy.  The fox brought it over for his mate.

 

Taking it into her paws, she opened it carefully.  Judy was not the ‘shred a box furiously’ kind of present opener.  She was the _other_ kind.  She could feel her fox’s eyes boring through her as she slowly unfolded and untaped her gift from its light blue foil wrapping paper.  With a smirk, she went slower.

 

“Oh, come on!” Angela cried.  “Do you need help?”  Judy snickered.

 

Finally, she finished opening the wrapping paper and found a simple box inside.  She lifted the lid of it and her mind practically went blank.

 

“Oh, my heart!” cried Vivienne, clutching her chest.

 

“What is it?” Angela asked, leaning in closer to look.  “Oh… Oh no.  No way…”

 

Judy took the object out of the box.  It was a plush fox.  It was a fox that looked alarmingly like Nick, right down to a Pawaiian shirt and tie.  It even had smug-looking green eyes and that classic deep smile her fox so often wore when he was teasing his bunny.  She clutched it to her chest.

 

Judy collected plush toys that represented all her friends and classmates when she was younger.  She still had most of them on her bed upstairs.  She and Nick had not been in her old room for their visit, since her bed wasn’t big enough.  Somehow he’d found out about the toy animals anyway.  It was the only answer.  As she inspected the perfect representation, she found the design of it to be well beyond any of her other carnival-won or store bought toys.

 

“Nick, this is custom work!  Who made this?” she murmured curiously.

 

Nick answered with a smile, “This special, handsome little guy was made by the aunt of the little wolf girl that Darmaw snatched.  She has an online craft shop.  Don’t worry, it’s not a favor.  I paid for it.  But, she really put all her heart into it.”

 

“The tail - oh God, the tail…”  Judy batted it a bit.  It was fuzzy and bouncy just like the real thing. This was exactly the right gift for her.  She could not possibly deny it.

 

Judy shared the plush with Angela kindly.  She fawned over it obsessively for a little while as Vivienne gave her son his gift.  This broke some of the emotional tension that had piled up around the sweet little fox plush.  As it turned out, Viv made a habit of giving Nick gag gifts. This one, to riotous laughter from Angela, was a ticket for a two night stay for two to the Mystic Spring Oasis. 

 

Viv originally teasingly said the other ticket was for her, because Nick went there with Bonnie already and it was her turn.  The male fox got to writhe in awkwardness and embarrassment for a little while.  Angela had been there too, and was the perfect witness for that bit of teasing.  Laughing, Viv gave the other ticket to Judy.  The eager doe liked the thought of getting spoiled for a while off the clock this time, and fully intended to go with him as soon as time would allow.

 

Finally, it was Nick’s turn to give his mother her gift.

 

Judy had been waiting for this.

 

She had been told by her mate that it would be something very special, but he hadn’t mentioned anything else about it.  She understood why it needed to be special, though.  He had, in his self-loathing in younger years, missed so many holidays with his mom.  He fully intended to make up for it.

 

He went over to the bag he’d brought down and took out a box that was large enough that it fit neatly across Vivienne’s lap.  Judy moved in closer.  Angela did so as well.  Vivienne carefully opened the beautifully wrapped gift.  The bright silver paper made it a bauble even before it was unwrapped.  She was, to Judy’s relief, a little quicker about it than she was.

 

Vivienne gasped as she revealed a medium-sized black velvet box.  It was a little larger than her paws cupped together around it.  Judy held her breath as the mother vixen slowly released the little silver catch and opened the box.  Inside was a pendant.  Viv took it out, eyes wide with wonder as she watched bright, polished gold glitter in the sun that filtered in through the windows of the den.

 

“Oh… wow…” murmured Angela. 

 

It was a beautifully crafted arrow, and it was not insignificant in size.  It was bound at the tip and end by its slender, elegant chain so that it would rest horizontally on the wearer’s chest when worn, rather than hanging down.  This represented an arrow in flight.  Judy stared at it, eyes no less round than her stunned vulpine mother’s.  Viv passed it to her lapine daughter.  Nick wore a joyfully smug expression at rendering his mother completely speechless. 

 

“Wow, this is… heavy!” Judy gasped, finding that as proof that it really was what it appeared to be… solid gold.  She then dutifully helped her vulpine mother put it on.  As she did, Judy realized that on the reverse side of the heavy golden arrow’s shaft, there was an inscription.  She held it up, but couldn’t read it.  It was written in the same language she’d seen in the interior.  The doe paused a second, and then stared back at the grinning fox.  “Nick… where… did you get this?”

 

“As with your lovely book, Judy, this gift is not from me alone… if that’s what you mean,” her fox responded.

 

“That… is gold,” pointed out Angela.  She had shuffled slightly back from the gift this time, respectful of its obvious value.

 

“What’s it say?” asked Viv in a strained voice.  Judy could immediately tell that this was not a vixen who expected to ever receive a precious gift like that.

 

“It says ‘Mlinzi Mama wa Pori’,” Nick pronounced carefully.  “This arrow was made in Motti’s village of Siri Shamba.”  Judy pulled in a sharp breath.  Of course.  This couldn’t be a simple store bought luxury item - not from Nick.  This meant something more.

 

“You know I have no idea what that means, Nicholas…” whispered his mother, swaying a little as Judy fastened the clasp at the back of the vixen’s neck.

 

Nick answered in a slow, careful story-teller’s tone.  “The pendant you wear is made of gold came from the mine that Judy and I prevented from being destroyed.  It was crafted by the paws of mammals that would have died in that mine were it not for the son of the fox this gift was intended for,” Nick explained, without immediately answering his mother’s question.

 

“I just… I can’t…” stammered Angela.

 

“Translated roughly, it says ‘Guardian Mother of the Wild’,” Nick finally explained with a very genuine smile. 

 

“Oh… my…” Vivienne whimpered.  “This is… really special… One of a kind, Nicholas,” she squeaked.

 

“There are two, actually.”  Nick stated this with a continued grin.  Judy tilted her head, not sure why he’d even say that.  It was way better to let her feel like she wore the only one ever made.

 

Angela spoke up with a light layer of envy in her voice.  “I’d say I want the other one, but I’m guessing it goes to the _other_ lady Wilde here.”  Judy froze, her heart suddenly sinking.  She didn’t like opulence.  Nick knew that.  It was a meaningful gift, but when would she _ever_ honor the pendant by actually _wearing_ it?  Vivienne dressed nice often, and she had lived long enough to genuinely appreciate such a treasure.  The bunny couldn’t possibly accept something like that from Nick!

 

“Actually, the other will remain in Siri Shamba,” Nick explained.  “It’s not here.”  Judy let out a quiet puff of relief.  He remembered.

 

“Why’s that?” inquired Vivienne.  Her tone showed she agreed with Angela.  It made sense that Judy would get the other one.

 

Nick spoke in a softer, more serious tone, holding his mother’s paws.  “The other pendant is permanently bound to the wall of secrets in the mine itself… the one where the true Origin Story is kept.”  Vivienne’s jaw slowly went slack, her ears falling back.  Her son continued, “A story continues forever, so long as someone remains to tell it.  Mom, you helped to protect Motti’s family so that they could continue to tell the tales of Siri Shamba, and guard the oldest actual representation of the Origin Story.  Their history is worth more than this artfully fashioned bit of metal.”  Vivienne was actually shaking as he said this.  Judy understood why.  She absolutely understood why.

 

“Nicholas…” Vivienne managed breathlessly, “I… I was just protecting my family…”

 

Angela’s jaw hung open.  “You three are… too intense to even… I mean…”  She slowly just… sat down.  Judy understood how her sister felt.  She still hadn’t come to terms with the fact that those mammals saw her as a hero just for helping Motti.  Helping mammals was what the bunny did every single day.

 

Nick continued, “To Judy and I, certainly you did just that.  But to the people of Siri Shamba, today and for all those tomorrow who will hear the story, Mlinzi Mama wa Pori fearlessly took up her bow and fought alongside Sungura ya Shetani.  Shetani helped not only save Motti’s family, but also helped to right a terrible wrong done a century ago.  Mom, you are now a permanent part of their story.”  Judy and Vivienne both squeaked.  Angela was right.  Nick was being too intense.  His mother clutched the arrow against her chest, eyes wide.

 

“I wasn’t trying to do all of that,” Vivienne whimpered.  Judy absolutely knew how Viv felt.  She knew it meant that her own name, at least Sungura ya Shetani’s name, was on that wall now as well.  It was almost too much to get her head around.  How had she not even considered that could happen?

 

Nick smiled warmly and hugged his mother.  “Be that as it may, you were involved.”  He stood a little taller and smirked, “…and at least you get a cool sounding name.  I went up on that wall as Janga, which just means ‘Disaster’.”  Vivienne burst into laughter, Judy following suit, and then the mother fox shifted almost seamlessly into sobbing and just held her son.  Judy leaned back and slowly sat down by her sister to let that whole scene work itself out.

 

“I’m glad I’m not exchanging gifts with you guys,” Angela offered with a laugh.  “I’d be so ashamed of my personalized little pocket knife or whatever else I could find on the internet.” 

 

“This kind of thing isn’t a gift to be coveted, Angela…” Nick’s mother sniffled, solemn as she said it.  Both bunnies look at her.

 

“Oh?” murmured the black doe curiously.

 

She spoke slowly, thoughtfully.  “It’s a very clear reminder that what we do… even for ourselves… is still a part of everyone else.  It’s almost… too heavy to bear.  But I’ll wear it proudly, and cherish this always.  Thank you, Nicholas.”  She hugged her son again.

 

Angela excused herself from the quiet and somewhat reverent moment.  Clever though Angela could be, Judy knew why she was there in the first place.  She was likely going to be informing other family members of what she’d just witnessed.  It was better than everyone showing up and making a spectacle of the more personal moment.  Judy wiped her wet eyes and knew that was the right choice.  A room full of sobbing bunnies would not have made this a better memory for them.  She was also impressed that her family had done a lot to give her more space and not crowd the less crowd-familiar foxes.  As such, she didn’t mind if Angela’s purpose there had not been just her own curiosity. 

 

As further proof of the unspoken arrangement, her mother and father came in almost immediately to have a look.  Vivienne thanked Bonnie deeply for the recipe book, and promised to try out a lot of them.  After all, she had a lapine daughter to try them out on!  Stu and Bonnie needed to dab their eyes quite a bit over the story of Vivienne’s beautiful pendant.

 

Bonnie helped the mother fox take a picture of herself wearing it, and Viv then took some time to send the picture to Annie with a long explanation of what it was and what it meant.  Judy rarely saw Vivienne so proud, but she knew that she shared these things with her best friend in New Reynard.

 

Charlie and Jessie came in as Viv was focused on writing that long block of explanatory text, followed by Sammie.  Sammie absolutely would not leave Nick alone without getting the contact information for the wolf who made the Nick plush.  Judy worried that she might have difficulty getting the little plush back from her sister and she cuddled it joyfully.

 

Over the next hour or so, they all talked about the fire dance, the jokes and drinking, and all the other fun that was had.  It was late morning before everyone headed to the kitchen to busy themselves with lunch time meal preparation for all those wiggling, silly bunny kits.

 

Judy and Nick had other plans, however.  They headed out in the family station wagon.  The bunny at the wheel, they enjoyed a rather relaxing drive through the countryside.  Nick was not used to being completely unable to tell his mate where to go while she was driving, so he was largely silent as she gave him something of a short tour of a few other places that she used to hang out as a kit.  It was nothing as fun and exciting as the rope swing.  These were normal hangouts.  There was a row of shops popular with the teenage crowd.  There was the library, which didn’t really surprise Nick.  Judy took special, sinister joy in the silent introduction of the fox to the old librarian bunny there.  Mrs. Reed was openly unpleasant on the subject of foxes and had routinely warned Judy when she was little to avoid them.  The look of shock on her face was a savory thing as she walked around with one so obviously close.

 

Judy then took Nick to the arboretum just north of town and immediately felt like a complete idiot.  Yes, it was a wonderful date location, except for the detail that she’d completely forgotten for some reason.  Near the end of their walk they encountered “Hungry Todd.”  It was a large, wonderfully made bronze statue of a very thin, very sad, very _dead_ fox.  Todd, out of supposed reverence for bunnies who had saved him, did not survive a famine over a hundred years before.  To Judy, the story was always about sacrifice, but Nick seemed to feel like there was more to the story. 

 

He didn’t tease about it, however.  He said that he knew about the statue from a visitor’s guide about Zootopia that he’d read before his first visit.  He did a little research. He couldn’t even find actual records about this fox.  Oddly, Nick felt that perhaps Todd was created, as a character, by local foxes who wanted bunnies to trust them more.  It was a far cry from what the bunny thought he was getting at initially.  He wasn’t saying bunnies mistreated this poor fox, he believed that Todd never existed at all.

 

Aside from that gloomy feature, the rest of their sight-seeing was quite casual and enjoyable.  After about two hours, they moved on to their next actual destination.

 

Sixteen miles outside of town on a little farm known for pumpkins and an extensive apple orchard… was a house she had been forbidden from in her youth.

 

As a child, Judy would have honestly steered clear of this place even if it hadn’t been forbidden.  It was far enough outside of town that one didn’t just pass by it.  She would have had to mean to go there.  There was absolutely never a reason to do that.  The rather large two-story home with white siding and wrap-around porch was neat and tidy, likely fixed up as the residing fox became the first of his family to enjoy true success in Bunnyburrow.  This was the home of her former bully turned family friend, Gideon Grey.

 

“I can’t believe you still want to do this,” Nick whispered in a concerned tone.

 

“He’s practically family, Nick,” Judy responded, smiling. 

 

Nick didn’t take his eyes off the house.  “Yeeeeah, but your mother was pretty open about the fact that the rest of his family does _not_ like the Hopps bunnies as much as he does.”

 

“It’s a fun family day, Nick.  Mind your manners and don’t prank anyone.  It’ll be fine!”

 

Judy and Nick got out of the car and, paw in paw, walked up to the house.


	5. Pie and Apologies

 

**Winter Hearth**

_ Chapter 5:  Pie and Apologies _

 

 

 

 

“Git off mah porch, weed-sucker.  We don’t want nothin’ you’re sellin’ or any other troubles yer bringin’.”

 

Well, this visit certainly hadn’t started out well.  A slightly older fox, appearing closer to Pop-Pop’s age than her parents, shuffled out the door to make room for two of the largest red foxes Judy had ever seen.  They stood on either side of the door, crossing their arms.

 

“I don’t have a problem with anyone here,” Judy responded tactfully, “I came to visit a friend for the holidays.”

 

One of the burly vulpines, bearing a crest of dark fur over the top of his head, grumbled, “Holidays is for family.  You ain’t that.  Wiggle yer nose some other place.”  Judy remained patient.  She was actually used to seeing reactions like this to both her and Nick, since she’d been subjected to it a couple of times in Happytown.  There, however, they disparaged her badge, not seemingly just her being a bunny. 

 

“So, hey, I should have introduced myself first…” Judy pressed.  She wasn’t just giving up without even a mention of why she was actually there.

 

“Don’t care.”  The other goonish fox rolled up the sleeves of his off-white dress shirt to show his powerful arms.  Judy was well aware that was intended to be threatening behavior.  She was not impressed.

 

“I’m Judy.  I wanted to see Gideon and maybe-…”

 

“Wait.  Hopps?  Judy Hopps?” asked the fox with the dark patch.  He wore a black sleeveless shirt and black pants.  Judy wanted to correct him, but decided that it was better for the moment if she left that as is.

 

“Yes!” the doe chimed brightly, ears high.  That should get the conversation moving.

 

“Germ…” grumbled the white-shirted vulpine.  The dark crested fox fox looked back to him.  That was obviously… Germ.  Judy laid her ears back.  “Git Gideon’s foppy fox butt out here.”  Judy grimaced at that.  Sure, he came off as harmless these days, but she would not have really considered it any level of foppishness.  Germ did as he was told, grunting and wandering inside.  The older fox shook his head, baring his teeth slightly. 

 

“Yew lot kin deal wit this.  I’mma git back t’ my game.”  The tidier-looking fox in the white shirt rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall, arms still crossed defiantly.

 

“What?!” came a female cry from inside.  There was toeclaw-click-laden patter over hardwood floor that punctuated a vixen’s rapid arrival to the door.

 

“Git back inside, this ent for you!” Germ shouted.

 

“Oh holy Hell, it really is you!” the vixen laughed out loud, standing rigidly, grinning in the doorway.  She had a fur pattern and color pretty similar to Nick’s, save for the fact that her entire face was white.  Her black ears pinned back as she took on a devilish grin as her fur bristled all over.  “Oh God, I’m gonna enjoy this.”  The jean-jacket-wearing vixen refused to budge at Germ’s insistence, remaining right where she was.  The vixen looked like she was perhaps fifteen or so, and there was a lot of fire in her blue eyes.

 

Nick spoke up in a low tone.  “Carrots, remember when we discussed phrases you don’t want to hear in an unsecure setting?”

 

“I’m dealing with this, Nick.  It’s okay,” Judy whispered back.  She was not so sure of that, even as she told him that.  There had been very aggressive behavior initially, and while she thought that things might improve after she said who she was, it suddenly didn’t feel that way.

 

Her mate grumbled under his breath, “We have to go back to work tomorrow.  I don’t want to go on medical leave again, Judy,”

 

“We’re just here to talk, Nick, stop it.”

 

“They’re gonna adjust their landscaping with us, Fluff.”

 

“You oughta be listening to your translator, rabbit,” the white-shirt fox grumbled.  He acted very calm, if imposing.  No one seemed desperately angry or immediately threatening, just… unwelcoming.

 

“Judy?!” came a voice from just inside the house.  Gideon emerged wearing his usual jeans and gingham shirt with an apron.  It was a plain white apron though, not the trademark pastel one from his work.  He was helping with holiday meal prep, perhaps.

 

“Hey Gideon!  Happy holi-…”

 

“Yew gotta go.  Ah’ll help you out to yer car,” the baker fox interrupted.  Judy put her ears back tightly. 

 

“Too late for that, Gid,” Germ growled, moving around behind Judy and Nick and positioning himself at the top of the stairs leading down to the yard.  The bunny tensed up.  There were flagstones on the walkway leading up to the porch.  She would have to try to kick Germ clear of those so he didn’t get seriously hurt. 

 

“Are yew seriously doin’ the scare-salesbunnies-away thing?  Now?  With _her_?” asked Gideon, putting his paws on his hips.

 

“Who says I ent serious about this?” queried Germ with a sneer.

 

“She’s a freakin’ cop, Jeremy!”  Gideon held out his paws at Judy as if revealing a hidden truth.  “She could probably already arrest yew for menacin’!” Judy moved her attention to the black-crested fox.  Jeremy was definitely a better name.  She wouldn’t complain about her nicknames anymore.

 

“I’m not here to arrest anyone,” Judy said.  “I’m here to visit a friend.”

 

“Yew ain’t got no friends here, rabbit,” the lone female fox insisted.

 

“Stow it, Liz.  Git back inside,” Germ growled again.

 

“I gotta see this!” she barked back. 

 

Gideon sighed heavily.  “Sorry y’all, but ah had no idea you’d try to run out here.  We kin catch up another time.”

 

“She ain’t leavin’,” snarled Germ.

 

“Naw, it ain’t worth it.  Let her go.”  This command actually came from the white-shirt fox.

 

“Shut up, Billy.  She ain’t leavin.”  Judy took a slow breath and moved her right foot-paw into place to pivot for the jump that would put both her feet into the column that supported the roof over the porch.  From there she would be able to plant her feet into Germ and launch him into the yard off to the side of the walkway.  She was ready.  She was not happy, though.  This was supposed to be a happy visit and now everything was _completely_ messed up.  Gideon would have to deal with so much trouble over this.  She should have called.  Making this a surprise for him was a complete disaster.

 

“Kin she really arrest him?  She ain’t in Zootopia.”  Liz sounded concerned.

 

“We can detain until the Sheriff’s department can get here,” Nick explained casually. 

 

“I really don’t think that will be necessary, though.  I’m not here for any of that,” Judy shot a look at her partner.  Discussion of consequences was not likely to relax them.  She would be eating a whole _loaf_ of ‘I told you so’ later.  This had been such a good idea in her sentimental bunny heart, but when her mom had told her that Gideon’s family was not supportive of him doing business with the Hopps family, either Bonnie or Gideon had not expressed adequately just _how_ negative it was.

 

“Look,” Nick held his paws out, “I can tell you are set in how this is going to be, so we won’t stick around and cause issues.  But I will repeat what she said… We didn’t come here with a problem.  That was already here when we arrived.  We will leave you to it.”

 

Judy snapped her gaze to her fox.  His expression had grown cold.  These foxes were threatening her and he was angry.  She could tell that while he looked perfectly calm and casual about what he was saying, he was choosing his words very carefully.  He meant to say that if they made a move against them, it would not be the _visiting_ party’s fault.  Nick was ready to fight, too.  Judy felt guilty for that as well.  She made a choice that might get her fox hurt.  It was a perfectly rational-sounding idea though!  Why would she assume that Gideon’s family would just attack his police officer friends?  That was just crazy!

 

Gideon moved to pass Germ and head to the stairs leading off the porch, speaking with a sigh.  “Right, it shore ain’t coming to none of that.  Ah’ll walk ya’ll to yer car.”  In a flash, the black-crested fox grabbed the baker by the straps of his apron and spun a bit, hurling him back the way he came.  Liz jumped just in time to not get trampled by Gid as he stumbled awkwardly through the front door, managing just barely not to fall on his backside from the rough throwing motion.  Judy braced.  If there was any more aggression toward Gideon or any at all toward her or Nick, she’d be doing a holiday UFR, or Use of Force Report.  That was the last thing she wanted.

 

“What part of she ent goin’ _no where_ didn’t yew git?!” Germ shouted.  Billy moved between him and the door, perhaps to keep him and Gideon from fighting.  Judy felt miserable.  She only drove out to say hi, and she’d probably wrecked his whole holiday family visit, maybe worse.  Still, it was suddenly becoming _very_ clear what created Gideon Grey the bully.  She knew his mother wasn’t around, even when he was a kit, and his dad, if that’s who the older fox was, appeared to care nothing for what his family was doing.  That was a rough environment for a kit.

 

“You don’t gotta protect our dumb brother, Billy.”  Germ spun around and faced Judy instead.  “Yew think I’m scared of spending a little time in jail, rabbit?  I been there before, t’ ain’t nothin’ new!”  His change in position meant that Judy could no longer punt him into the yard.  She could run, but Nick would be left on the porch to contend with two or three pissed off vulpines.

 

“Why _am_ I worth going to jail?” asked Judy, muscles starting to burn with tension.  Waiting to fight was the worst part of officer altercations.  Unless there was immediate danger to the public at large or the officer, every avenue of de-escalation had to be reasonably exhausted before use of force was considered.

 

“For what _you_ did to Gideon, you dumb bunny!” Liz shouted.  Judy had no idea who that fox even was.  Maybe she was a cousin?

 

“What I did to Gideon?  He’s my friend, I didn’t do anything to him!” the bunny replied hastily.

 

“She means the fight when we was kits, Judy.”  Gideon came back out the door, locking eyes with Germ.  “Mah family sees that whole deal differently from you ‘n most of Bunnyburrow.”  The baker fox had taken off his apron and rolled up his sleeves too.  She absolutely did _not_ want her friend to fight his family.

 

“Okay, so let’s talk about it,” Judy offered, glancing back and forth between two seething foxes.

 

“Let’s not,” said Gideon darkly, “Ah dun forgave Judy years and years ago, Germ.  It’s my problem, not ya’ll’s.”

 

“See, that’s the crap that’s all wrong, Gid!” spat Germ.  “You don’t get to forgive her all on yer own.  She messed up th’ whole family!”  Judy recoiled a bit at that.  What?  She glanced at Nick.  He had his gaze fixed on Jeremy.  Usually, when relaxed, her mate’s paws were in his pockets.  They were up, crossed in front of him.  The bunny grimaced again.  She needed to get this under control before Gideon ended up with a situation completely beyond repair.

 

“Indirect-like!  And it was as much my fault, and don’t nunna ya’ll say it wasn’t!” snapped Gideon back at his brother.

 

“Look,” sighed Billy, using a softer tone ot Judy, “We’ll deal wit this.  Don’t no one need arresting, so Git.”

 

“Sorry for the trouble,” Nick said, nodding as he directed Judy toward the steps.

 

“Nope,” Judy responded bluntly.

 

“ _What_?!” Nick whined.

 

Judy fixed her gaze on Germ.  “Hold on, Nick.”  She glared at the black-crested vulpine.  “It’s been like… 16 _years_ since that happened and this whole house wants to see me pay for whatever it was I did or I caused.”  The bunny indicated the white-faced vixen.  “…Hell, she probably wasn’t even born when it happened, and she’s lined up to watch me get punted.  I want this resolved.  It’s not good for anyone to leave it like this.”

 

Gideon put his face in his paws.  “Aw shoot, Judy…  It’s not…”

 

“Right!” snapped Germ.  “Let’s do this!”  He stepped off the porch, fur positively fluffy with excitement.  “Bunny ain’t so dumb after all.  Let’s resolve it.”

 

Gideon face-palmed.  “She ain’t gonna brawl with you in the front yard, Germ.  She’s a police officer, they cain’t do that crap.”

 

“Hold on, no, I wanna see this,” Billy said.  “I watch the news – Obviously Jeremy don’t.”  The white-shirted fox grinned broadly.  Judy’s ears went back.  Maybe Gideon wasn’t the least favorite brother here after all.

 

The bunny gritted her teeth, restraining her irritation.  “Will someone just tell me what it was I was supposed to have caused?”

 

“God.  Fine!”  the vixen shouted.

 

“Liz, no,” Gideon interjected.

 

“No, she’s right, this is _dumb_ ,” the girl fox growled.  She leaned back against the column, paws balled into fists as she crossed her arms in front of her.  “When th’ town found out about th’ fight ‘tween yew and Gids, no one cared that ya _bullied_ him!  It didn’t matter to the town how ya’ll talked down to him, treated him inferior-like.  He lashed out cuz _yew_ drove him nuts and suddenly our whole dang _family’s_ bunny-killers!”

 

Gideon spoke up defensively.  “Liz, ah drew _blood_.  You _know_ how Bunnyburrow folks feel about that kind of thing!  That a them thing, not a her thing.”

 

“Shut up, Gid!” Judy and Billy both shouted.  Germ grinned at that.  Nick relaxed some, but from the glance Judy stole of him, he seemed deeply thoughtful, working out the scene and obviously playing scenarios through his head.  This was a better situation for Nick.  He could fight, but talking his way through a problem was always his stronger suit.

 

Judy decided to continue talking.  “So, I get it.  Foxes weren’t really fairly treated back then – Hell, even now.  I’m not blind.  As a cop, I see it way more now.  But I was _nine_!  I didn’t have any control over how the town saw it.  Gideon and I got into a fight.  Kits do that.  And yes, I admit it.  My friends and I weren’t real friendly with Gideon, but he wasn’t friendly with _me_ either.  He was always pushing my friends around, taking things from them, calling us names… it wasn’t a one way street, and he was like that from the day I _met_ him.  As a kit, I didn’t have any other impression of him.”

 

Germ huffed.  “Yeah, cuz we had to act tough or the kits walked all over us.  Lemme ask yew sum’n.  Yew know what ‘Flickafang’ is, dontcha?”

 

“No?” Judy responded in question.  She genuinely didn’t.

 

“That’s more of a buck thing, really,” Nick explained with a palpable tone of discomfort.  Judy glanced over to him.  His ears were back.  “Someone tells a fox a joke.  If he laughs, and his teeth are visible, it’s a challenge for everyone around him to quickly reach over and thump one of his canine teeth.  Pak!  It’s really… unpleasant.”  Judy cupped her muzzle at that.

 

“That’s awful!” Judy cried in genuine distress.  Bucks in Bunnyburrow really did that?

 

“Yep, and if a fight breaks out over that, guess whose fault it is?” asked Billy.

 

Germ nodded emphatically at that.  “Yeah… First time it happened to me, the dumb buck what did it messed up and actually moved his paw to my face too fast.  His dumb bunny butt actually cut himself on my tooth.  I was tryin’ t’ avoid it, and I got _suspended_ for biting him!  All over some dumb stuff bunnies do to prove they ain’t scared of fangs and stuff.  ‘Course they ain’t scared of em, we ain’t allowed to use em!”  Judy’s heart sank.  It suddenly became painfully clear why Nick rarely talked about his formative years.  Was it just as bad in Zootopia?  Could it have been even worse?

 

Liz spoke again, less aggressively.  “It’s still like that.  School sucks cuz of it.  It’s why half of us jest drop out.”  Judy sighed sullenly.  Okay, so, maybe Gideon’s household had a _little_ to do with how he was when he was little, but if that’s really how he got treated before Judy even met him, that was the very real spark to light the kindling of everything else.

 

Nick spoke again, “We can talk about how crappy school was till the next holiday rolls around.  Let’s stay on subject here.  Judy obviously didn’t feel like she was bullying anyone, but I’ve seen the scars to prove that the town had a _reason_ to get peeved at Gideon.”  The baker fox winced, likely unaware that the attack left a scar that existed to that day on the bunny’s soft cheek.  Her mate continued, seeming to get his reasoning tone back.  “Let’s start with your side of this.  How does this now involve the _rest_ of the family so that Gid can’t just let any of this go and move on?”

 

It was Billy who answered.  “When we said the town labeled us bunny-killers, that part weren’t no exaggeration.  They sent kit services out t’ our place and straight up _took_ Gideon away.”

 

“What?!” cried Judy plaintively.  Okay, she did _not_ know this part, but for obvious reasons she was not involved with Gideon after the fight.  Could they honestly just take him away because he got into a fight as a kit?  That didn’t sound right at all!  She suddenly wished she had really tried to contact him after but her parents told her to not go anywhere near him.  She knew he switched schools but that was all.  She didn’t think Gideon would mind switching schools since he obviously hated the one he was in.  The doe now had a better understanding of why.  But still, to be taken away from his family was too extreme!

 

“That wasn’t Judy’s fault,” Gideon responded passionately, waving his paws a bit.  “Pop was laid out drunk when the case worker got there and me an’ Germ stood up on the roof cussin at ‘em, throwing stuff and everything.  I’m not sayin they weren’t _there_ cuz the fight, but I wasn’t choosin’ right neither.  Pop did the program an’ I came right back.  It weren’t even a fully month, and they wasn’t that bad at the other place.  They was real helpful.  I told ya’ll that.”

 

Germ answered that.  “You were nine, Gid.  You was the littlest one.  They took you away, and the whole town treated us like we did somethin’ wrong.  Yew know about that.  We wasn’t allowed in half the stores just because we was Greys.”

 

“I’m going to interject here, if I may…” Nick spoke calmly.

 

“Shore,” Liz said, her eyes pretty consistently on him.  The bunny could relate.

 

“Judy, did you harass Gideon when he was younger?”  Nick’s question was very formal and he used the kind of tone that he took on when talking to truant kits.  She understood immediately where this was going.  Good.  This was good.

 

“I did.  When I was nine.”  She wanted to be sure to express that it was a very long time ago, but regardless, it needed to be addressed to put any kind of ointment on this festering wound.

 

“What did you do?  I want to know all of it.”  Her mate’s words were stern.  Her ears fell back.  What?

 

“All of it?  Nick, I-…”

 

“Everything you can clearly remember.  Say it.”  Judy shrunk away slightly at that.  Okay this… wasn’t likely to help these foxes opinion of her.  Maybe this wasn’t so good.

 

“Well… Okay… I guess… Maybe we made reference to Gideon… not being the crispest lettuce in the field.”

 

“Frequently?” inquired Nick.  The bunny looked at his face.  She could tell immediately that his walls were up in full.  She had almost forgotten what they were like.  Nick was genuinely upset.  Was he upset at her?

 

“Oh yeah… A lot…” Judy glanced down.

 

“Ya’ll, we don’t gotta do all this,” Gideon groaned.  The baker fox was plainly uncomfortable as he stood there while his friend was being forced to confess her kithood mistakes.  He obviously didn’t like how it made Judy feel, but she understood that she _should_ feel bad about those things, even if she was a kit back then.  It wasn’t right at all.  None of it was.  Gid pressed, “Ah let this crap slide ages ago.  If you wanna make it right, let’s just drop it all here and now.  That’s how we move forward.”

 

“Your therapist told you that, Gid,” Nick stated, “It’s a bit of paper and plaster on a wall with a gaping hole in it.  Nice enough to look at so mammals don’t notice, but not structurally sound.  They didn’t fix you, Gideon, they just made you prettier for everyone else.”

 

“Ah like this fox,” Liz interrupted.  She got shushed. 

 

Nick gestured to the her partner’s other fox friend.  “Even worse, it’s another way for the _system_ to make the problem the _victim’s_ responsibility.”  Judy’s mate paced.  That was… a bad sign.  Nothing about this situation should have her partner this upset.  “Let it go, they say.  Don’t think about it.  Forgive them, they were just kits.”  Judy’s heart suddenly sank.  No.  She knew what this was about.  She hadn’t considered what things Vivienne had tried in order to help Nick.  Of course she tried therapy.  He absolutely knew what Gideon had been told.  He continued, “They use big words with little kits like ‘emotional accountability’, ‘social norms’, and ‘managing tendencies’.  They surround you with inspirational posters.  Yesterday is out of reach, so tomorrow up to you!  Only you can make you happy.”

 

“Nick?” Gideon murmured, sounding a bit concerned too.

 

Nick stopped pacing, staring at the other foxes.  “Okay, so when I’m _not_ happy, whose fault is it?  Oh?  It’s the fox’s fault again!  Perfectly convenient!  Meanwhile, we will just ignore the little thugs who screwed him up in the first place.”  The bunny winced.

 

“Oh, shit,” Liz deadpanned.  Her eyes shot to Judy.  The doe sucked in a deep breath to calm herself.  They thought Nick was still referring to her.  Nick had not just called Judy a thug as he said that – she knew who he was referring to, but the other foxes didn’t know that, and the implication was pretty severe.  Despite who it was intended for, it still struck the bunny to the core.  Every time she thought of what happened to Nick as a kit, it had made her nearly sick, but how different was she really?  How little had she deviated to not be _exactly_ the same?

 

Nick continued again, “Stow that velvet couch mumbo-jumbo, and listen to the bunny, Gideon.  Keep talking, Judy.  What else?”  Judy trembled, but felt a gentle pressure on her shoulder.  Nick’s paw gave it a soft squeeze.  Whatever he was doing, whatever he was getting at, he was still there.  He didn’t leave her.  And oh how she needed his reassurance right then. 

 

“I… I…”  Judy’s chest hurt.  She was nearly the same as those Junior Rangers.  They ruined twenty years of Nick’s life.  Had she really done the same to this fox?  It really hurt.  She closed her eyes and then shook her head, pushing her gaze to Gideon.  No.  This _had_ to hurt.  It needed to.  It hurt because she wasn’t like that now.  If she felt nothing, then she wasn’t any better now than she was then.  She continued in a wavering tone.  “I threw his lunch in the trash when he was distracted during an argument with someone else once.”

 

Gideon interrupted.  “Ah should explain that a bit better.  I was poppin’ off at a kit who just lost his mum, an’ ah didn’t know it.  Everyone was super steamed about it, and Judy -…”

 

“Fluff, keep talking,” Nick encouraged.  There was not as much of an edge to his voice this time.  He could tell this was hard, and it was, by the presence of that calm wall, hard for him too.  Judy believed in her mate, however, and continued.

 

“I always watched for him to do something that was against the rules so I could tell on him,” the bunny sighed.

 

“Thumper…” grunted Germ.  Billy punched his shoulder.

 

“I was nine!” Judy pled.

 

“Keep going,” Nick insisted.

 

“Seriously?” interrupted Liz.  “Aren’t you guys like… friends?”

 

“No, it’s different,” Nick said in a gentler tone, squeezing her shoulder again.  Judy was encouraged by the thought of just what that difference was and sucked in a deep breath.  She wasn’t just doing this for Gideon.  She was doing this for Nick.  She would endure.  It hurt, but it was supposed to.

 

“I made a point to remind Gideon that he didn’t get to go on the field trip to the Zootopia aquarium.  He uh… he didn’t have the money for the trip.”

 

“Wow… that’s not cool,” Nick grumbled.  Judy wilted a bit.  She wasn’t sure if that was for show, or if he really was that disappointed in her.  She felt miserable even remembering that little detail.  It had felt justified back then.  Why the hell had it felt justified?!

 

“I was-…”

 

“Nine, yeah, we get it,” Germ cut in.  “We kin stop making her say this stuff, we all git th’ idear.”

 

“Judy, would you apologize to Gideon?” Nick finally said. That.  That was what she figured was coming to begin with, but she did not expect or enjoy being dragged through the muck beforehand.  The bunny understood why Nick did that a lot better as she considered her apology.  It was one thing to say ‘sorry for all the bad stuff, Gid’ and not give a second of thought to what it even meant.  It would be paper and plaster on a wall.  Everyone needed to know, especially with how long ago it had been since the offending action that Judy knew what she was apologizing for.  She wasn’t playing innocent.  She admitted she did wrong.  Nick placed a warm paw over her ear against the back of her shoulder.  It gave her some needed strength.

 

The doe looked the baker fox in the eyes.  Her voice immediately cracked as she tried to do this.  “Gideon, it’s been a very long time and this has been sitting undone for… 16 years too long.”  His chest didn’t move.  He was holding his breath, obviously fighting his own emotions.  She couldn’t even tell what those emotions actually were.  He just looked distressed.  “This has nothing to do with the fight we had.  This is for everything before.  This is for me being rotten because… well… _everyone_ was rotten.  I didn’t even think it was _weird_.  Sweet cheese and crackers, how could I not, even then?”

 

Judy leaned back against the column, a sudden wave of nausea.  She crossed her arms in front of her, wavering a bit.  Nick reached down with both paws and held hers.  She wasn’t like that anymore, but it sucked even coming to terms with the fact that she _was_ at one time.  And now Nick knew it too.  How did _he_ feel about it?  Did he see the faintest possibility that she’d have laughed at him as those other kids crammed a muzzle on him?  She would have drawn the line over something like that?  Wouldn’t she?  When she stared back into Nick’s eyes, the wall flickered and she saw, reflected in those warm emeralds, only love.  And that hurt even worse.  Was what she did to Gideon any less painful than what happened to her beloved mate?

 

Even the day of the fight, she called Gideon ‘small minded’ in front of _half the town_.  Her mom and dad were there.  The place was full of adults who were watching the stage play.  She remembered very explicitly that not _one_ mammal pulled her aside and told her that her behavior was unacceptable.  That was immediately the most glaring proof she had ever seen that everything that Gideon’s family claimed to endure had been true.  And she was a part of it.

 

Judy sank down to the porch, trying with every thread of her being not to be the stereotypical emotional bunny.  Gideon moved quickly over to her.  She hugged him and just… let it out.  Damn it Nick.  This was his fault.  She couldn’t even look at him, not because she was angry at him, but because she felt like garbage.  He couldn’t have wanted her to feel that way, she knew that, but she did.  She was a better mammal now.  She knew that.  That was just a part of growing up, but it didn’t excuse the fact that she did it.

 

“Oh geeze…” whispered Liz in a sympathetic tone.  She was shushed again by Billy and Germ.

 

“You haven’t apologized yet,” Nick reminded Judy, kneeling by her, still using an encouraging tone.

 

“Oh God, lay off the bunny,” Liz snapped defensively.  Judy opened her eyes, letting go of the other fox.  Judy understood why Nick was suddenly more determined here.  He had gone through some of what Gideon was dealing with, and maybe spent a lot of time thinking about how it could have been resolved better.  This was not just for Gideon and she knew it.  He wouldn’t have thrown up his wall otherwise.

 

Judy spoke, forcing her voice to rise to make sure she was heard.  “Gideon, I really am sorry for the way I treated you.  Again, this isn’t about the fight.  This is everything else.  I can’t apologize for everyone, but I don’t want you ever to think you are unwelcome or unwanted in Bunnyburrow again.  We are happy and lucky to have you, and I think anyone I can name would stand up for you at this point.  _You_ made the reputation that you’ve had all on your own, and you should be proud of yourself.  You’re a good mammal, Gideon Grey.  You all are.”  She brought her wet-eyed gaze to the other foxes.

 

“Who me?” Germ blurted out, “Don’t saddle me wit that, I chucked a beehive into the library.  And not when I was nine, and I’m gonna leave it at that.”

 

“He was drunk and the librarian’s assistant honked her horn at him,” whispered Liz.  The doe regarded Gideon.  He was quiet and she couldn’t really read his expression.  Was it not enough?

 

“Judy…” Gideon used a quieter tone.

 

The bunny held up her paw.  “You already said your side of all this the day the Nighthowler thing got resolved.  You don’t have to say anything.”

 

Gideon took a deep breath, holding up a paw to make it clear he was going to speak.  “I just wanted to say… You sucked.”  The doe stared at him, ears falling.

 

“What?” she asked.

 

“You _sucked_.  You and your whole little crew of thumpers.”  Judy recoiled a bit.  What the heck?  The other fox got louder.  “You hopped and skipped about like you couldn’t do no wrong, but yer little friends was so rotten.  Gareth was a thief – pocketed a cookie from tha lunch line every damned day.  Sharla was _the_ goddess of gossip.  That miserable little sweater-factory spread lies an’ rumors like a danged _tabloid_.  One time, your little musical Bobby Catmul showed alla’ us a bag of ‘nip that he found in his dad’s truck.  Then, when he thought someone told the teacher that he had it, he _ate_ it and went to sleep under the bleachers so hard he _pooped_ himself, an’ that’s a _fact_.  Ah could go awn like this fer _days_!  All’a’yall _sucked_.”  Judy quickly glanced over at Nick, but his expression hadn’t changed.  Calm and passive.  Did he actually _expect_ this to happen?  Her eyes scanned the other foxes on the porch.  Everyone else stared at Gideon with very round eyes, a few jaws agape.

 

The doe glanced down, then back up, and spoke warily.  “Ooookay… yes.  We sucked.”  She figured that there was no call for her saying otherwise.  She knew about the little nicking phase Gareth went through.  She didn’t remember Sharla spreading rumors really, but maybe she did?  She certainly didn’t remember her cougar class mate getting nipped out of his head in grade school, but maybe that was an understandably well-kept secret.

 

“I hated yew most of all,” Gideon added.  The bunny winced hard at that.  That… stung.  A lot.  That wasn’t… the direction that Judy hoped to go with this.  Nick slowly moved in closer to the bunny, stepping slightly in front of her.  Did he think Judy needed protected from Gideon?

 

“Gid…” The scratchy voice came from the doorway.  Judy looked up and saw his pop standing there.  When had he come back?  Had he watched all the things she said about what she did to her son when they were both little?

 

The baker fox cut him off.  “Naw, ah’m serious Pop.  She made it her life’s work back then to _mess_ with me.  And now I kin say… ah _ain’t_ sorry we got into a fight.  Ah take back all my dumb apology about my rage and aggression.  That’s a pile of scat.  Why did I have to say I was sorry for that?  Ah was never sorry ‘bout that.  Ah had a _right_ to be mad.  We was eventually gonna have to fight.  Judy didn’t know when to quit.”  Judy’s heart ached again.  Really?  Were they not friends now?

 

“Uh…” Liz sounded patently uncomfortable.  The bunny glanced at Nick, but he just watched Gideon fixedly.

 

“But ah am sorry ah hurt her.”  Gideon said that in a much softer tone.  Judy perked up at that.  “Ah ain’t never had the right to actually do… that.  Shore, Judy sucked.  Her friends sucked.  But, when ah did that, ah sucked worse.  Ah’m sorry ah hurt you that day.  But most of all, and ah mean this, Judy… ah’m sorry that we didn’t get to be friends back then.  We sucked when we were nine.  Maybe all of us was rotten when we was nine.  But ah felt rotten ever since.  Today, ah don’t feel rotten no more, and Judy…. You shouldn’t neither.”

 

“3… 2… 1…” counted Nick.  Judy suddenly hugged Gideon and sobbed.  “So emotional,” he added.  The bunny would get him for that later.  Nick moved over to her and stroked her back to make it clear that he had relaxed.  It was a very welcome touch.

 

“I ain’t gonna lie, this is awesome,” said an obviously choked up Liz.

 

The oldest vulpine cackled at that.  “Whataya know?  Looks like Judy Hopps had a mess of friends here after all.”

 

“Wilde,” Nick corrected.

 

“Grey.  Andy.”  The patron of the Grey family held his paw out.  Nick took it and shook.

 

“Pleasure.  But I meant Judy.  It’s not Hopps.  It’s Wilde.”

 

“What?  No…” Liz sounded crestfallen.

 

“Yer kiddin’!” barked Billy.  “Seriously?  Yer married?”

 

“Vowed up,” sniffled Judy.

 

“Okay, where’s the coin?” asked Germ with a wide grin.

 

“Ain’t no joke,” Gideon let Judy go finally, perhaps reminded that her mate was watching.  Germ took a step back, eyes wide at the news that there was no getting.  Gid continued, “Least of all, ah know Nick’s vowed up, cause that’s the only way Stu woulda known the words.  Asked about it and I was jest flabbergasted.  Judy, you vowed up now too?  Witnessed?”

 

“My parents and Nick’s mom, yep,” Just elaborated, wiping her face on her sleeve.  She was not sure if it was wise for Nick to dump that on these foxes right after that… whatever had just transpired.  Maybe he did that to make sure that they knew he didn’t hate Judy.  He had been pretty forceful with the situation, but was that what it really took to fix that?  It had seemed so completely unsalvageable.

 

“I gotta say… seein’ how Nick was pushin’ yew to pretty much disparage yerself, I wouldn’t think ya’ll was married,” suggested Billy.  To answer this, Nick got a mostly restrained squeak from Judy by leaning down and placing a soft bite on the back of her neck.

 

“That’s jest the wrongest thing I ever saw,” announced Germ.

 

“I heard Jack Savage was dating a fox,” offered Liz positively.  She was obviously not offended.

 

“Now who’s th’ queen of gossip?” laughed Billy.

 

“There’s pictures of them cuddling on the internet!” barked the vixen.

 

“There’s pictures of Lionheart kissing space aliens on the internet too!” laughed Germ.

 

“I’ll confirm it,” Judy said.  “Jack and Skye are really a thing.”  All eyes were on her.

 

“Confirmed.  100%,” Nick stated.

 

“Wait, you were with them for that mess in The Interior…” stated Andy.  “Ya’ll got the inside know on that.”

 

“See?  _He_ watches the news!” Billy flailed a bit at the near-ancient fox.

 

“Gideon, you ain’t datin’ a bunny, are you?” asked Andy with a grin.

 

“If the truth gotta be known, ah think ah’m dating mah day-planner,” Gideon chuckled.

 

“Who’s that?” responded Liz.

 

“It’s a book,” Nick informed.

 

“Oh.  Now a bunny don’t seem so weird,” offered the vixen.

 

Gideon stared at her.  “What?  No, ah… No!”

 

Everyone laughed.

 

After the laughter died down, Andy ushered everyone inside.  Nick and Judy got to hang out with Gideon’s family, and they took turns telling stories about Judy’s youth.  It was usually pretty embarrassing stuff, but not always.  Apparently, their impression of her was not all bad.  Judy, in turn, shared a bit more information with the curious skulk of vulpines about their dealings in The Interior, as there were only a few details that had been fully divulged.  While some things were still off limits, they were able to discuss more than was known that had not been deemed sensitive.  She told them about the other survivors from the mine, the spider incident, Nick being knocked through a wall by a hyena, and a few other fun things to get back at him for the emotional bunnies comment.

 

There were lots of stories to share, and Judy felt more and more comfortable.  She wondered how much change they had really brought with them.  Ending the unspoken strife burning outside Bunnyburrow could only be a good thing.  Would things in town really change?  Could they change for others?  It renewed her desire to continue making the world a better place.  If this mess could be resolved, then the thing that had been weighing on her heart for a couple days now might not be so hard.  She could work things out with Sharla.  Maybe Nick could help.  Maybe he wouldn’t even need to.

 

They remained there for at least four hours.  The pair would have stayed longer but they needed to head back to the farm to get ready for their train in the morning.  Judy had not expected they would stay so long, but it was important to her to get to share in their stories and learn as much as she could to make as good an impression as possible now that she was allowed to make a real one. 

 

She learned that Gideon’s dad was a refrigerator repair mammal, which she hadn’t even thought about as a thing.  She supposed no one wanted their food to go bad and they needed someone they could call to help them.  It made sense.  His brothers, Jeremy and Billy, were four and six years older respectively.  Lisa, or Liz, as she preferred to be called for some reason, was adopted.  Both her parents were in jail, but they never explained why.  No one seemed to care much about it.  As far as they were concerned, she was just Gideon’s little sister. 

 

She was encouraged by Nick to get her diploma no matter how hard school seemed.  In the end, no one would be able to take that accomplishment away from her, and having that diploma made a pretty big difference later on.

 

Billy explained that the whole family hadn’t talked to Gideon for months after he started working with the Hopps family, which Judy was completely unaware of.  She felt bad for him.  Apparently, the family’s stance softened after Gideon got in the newspaper for helping rescue bunny kits from a blaze.  With that, and the charity work to help the Tuber family, the reaction to the whole Grey family name improved significantly.  Tense though it was, things normalized a little bit at a time with their family.

 

Judy’s meddling nearly messed that up bad.  She apologized profusely, but was assured it was ultimately for the best.  Nick was thanked a lot for his help with that.  He admitted that he got the idea of how to handle the whole issue from a book he’d read, but could not remember which one.  Judy felt like he was just deflecting it.  Nick loved attention, but not praise.  Praise, he said, was just blaming someone for something that wasn’t bad.  You never wanted to be held responsible for something other mammals did, he’d explained.

 

After having a snack, they headed back to the farm. 

 

It was far quieter for their final night.  This suited Judy and Nick both just fine.  It had been a very draining day. Judy rested against her mate, savoring having spent her first holiday with him in her family’s home with his mother there to enjoy it too.  As always seemed to be the case, what they _hoped_ would be uneventful and peaceful was not, but at least it was done with on a high note.  It wasn’t always easy, but these were good memories they would take with them.  They would have a lot to do when they got back, and they still had to get Judy fully cleared for active duty.  That was first and foremost on their mind.  They were sergeants, and while Tora intended to keep them together, they expected to have to learn some new duties all the same.

 

Nick attempted to apologize for how rough he was being at the Grey residence, but Judy shushed him.  She reminded her mate that Jack was the one who liked the vicious fox thing, and that broke her mate’s rising funk straight away. 

 

Relaxing a little, the fox explained to Judy that he was terrified the whole time because he didn’t know if it would work.  He didn’t think that psychologists were all quacks, but the ones that got used for wayward fox kits were often overloaded and results driven.  They all read the same book, all did the same stuff.  They tried, but there wasn’t enough material to fix the damage, and what was left a fox was left to fix themselves… unless they were so lucky as to find a bunny who would gladly fill that hole with love and a special brand of insanity.  The later hours of the evening were spent cuddling and kissing, holding one another.  Nick reaffirmed more than once that he was proud of who Judy became, in case there could ever be any worry.  It was blissful and made her glad that she had endured this, as it provided further proof of nick’s commitment to their vow.  All that she was, all that she is, all that she ever would be, was accepted.  The let their last night in the country sweep them into quiet dream.

 

 

 

*************

 

 

Judy scrolled through some of the pictures on her phone.  She had taken to sorting images as her primary duty on the train ride home when she’d visited.  She promised to visit more, so maybe she would not feel the need to take so many pictures.  Nick sent a few of his own images to irritate the bunny, since it meant she had to sort those too.  He obviously contacted his lover’s siblings, as they started pitching pictures at her.  They were good pictures too, so she couldn’t just delete them angrily.  No, they had to be put in their correct folders, all neat and tidy. 

 

Nick bantered back and forth with Judy a bit, but she felt that something was slightly off.  It was not like it had to be as noisy as it was at home when the kits were opening their presents, but it felt a lot more silent than the ride over.  She finally put the puzzle piece in place and figured it out.

 

“Mom?” she inquired softly.  Vivienne looked up, as if shaken from a dream.

 

“Y-yes?” she asked.

 

“You’ve been… quiet.  Are you feeling okay?  It was an early train, I know.  Foxes hate that.”  Judy nodded.

 

“Oh no… I’m fine, Judy dear.”  She gazed out the window, watching trees slide by rapidly.  She smiled, but the smile relaxed back to a blank stare out to the distance.  Judy peered at her mate, who shared a concerned look.

 

“Mom?” he pressed.  She peered back at them both.

 

“It’s uh… I mean, I’m fine.  Just been a… weekend.”  She smiled weakly again.

 

“You … You know I was a con artist, right?” her son asked.

 

Vivienne sighed.  “Yeah, you like to remind me of that when I have anything at all on my mind, Nicholas.  I’m just… thinking about things that happened.”  She gazed at the little velvet box her precious arrow pendent from her son was in.

 

“You have two cops with you.  No one’s gonna snatch it,” Judy said with a smile.

 

“Was it too heavy?” Nick whispered with a tone of dread.  “It was too much.”  Judy hadn’t thought about how much Vivienne might have been taken by surprise by such a gift.  It was a lot to deal with, knowing you were a part of something that big.

 

“N-no… No that’s not it,” stammered the vixen.  “I… Okay…  You’ll find out about this eventually so I’m just gonna… Get it over with.”  Nick suddenly appeared extremely worried.  Judy tensed up anxiously too.  Vivienne’s tone sounded like something really was wrong.  Was there a problem with the bakery?  Had that failed?  Was she having money issues?  Did she have to leave Zootopia?  Was it something even _worse_?

 

“We’re here, Mom,” Nick reassured her in a tender voice.

 

“Judy… Nicholas… You’ll _forgive_ me if I really mess up, right?” she half-whispered.  Judy felt her muscles tighten way more.  That was not a Vivienne kind of conversation.  That fox did not mess things up.  Nick’s expression softened, however.

 

“Of course we would, Mom.  Just as you have… and _would_ with me, or even Judy, if she ever made a mistake after the age of nine.”  Judy kicked Nick’s foot hard.  He kept his smile.

 

“I… I did something _very_ wrong.”  She looked at her son, then Judy, then immediately down, shameful.

 

“Talk to us…” Judy leaned in as she said that, making it clear it was okay.  She was with mammals she could trust.

 

“I didn’t… help your sheep friend, Judy,” Vivienne murmured in a dejected tone.  She stroked the velvet box slowly again.  Judy widened her eyes.  Vivienne lied to them?  She was never required to help Sharla in the first place.  Failing to get through to that sheep was not something Nick or Judy would hold against her.

 

“Did you talk to her?” pried Nick as tactfully as he could.  He was trying to figure out what part was true. 

 

“Y-yes, I did,” Vivienne answered slowly.

 

“And?” Judy pushed, worrying more about how hard it was to get her to talk about this.  She admitted freely to shooting Nick’s grandfather with an arrow.  What had happened that she was so cautious about now?

 

“She was just _terrible_ ,” Viv grumbled. 

 

Judy leaned back, ears perking.  “Oh…”  The bunny suddenly felt awful for having allowed Vivienne to subject herself to that. 

 

Nick’s  mother continued, “Now… understand, I know how that works, and I know she was stressed and upset, so I _tried_ to find common ground!  But she was so angry that she was just… saying stuff that… looking back on it now… she didn’t mean.  She can’t have meant it.  She was just trying to _upset_ me.”

 

“Like what?” Nick queried in barely more than a whisper.

 

“I asked how she felt about fox kits.  She’s a teacher, for crying out loud.  She can’t hate fox kits!  And let me tell you… I was… very unhappy with her _answer_.”  Judy cringed at that.

 

“But you said that you _knew_ she was just saying that stuff to provoke you,” Nick clarified.

 

“Well… after I cooled off I figured that was it.  She never looked right at me when she said that stuff.  But… I was so… furious when she originally said it… I didn’t help.  I was there to do the right thing, and I went and did the wrong thing anyway.”  Her voice was pained as she explained that.  Nick put his ears back with worry as he glanced over to Judy and back to his mother.

 

“You told us that you gave her information to help her find Gary,” Nick stated.

 

“Gareth,” Judy corrected.

 

Viv covered her face with her paws.  “I did… but I never gave her the detective’s information like you wanted.”  She reached into her purse and pulled out the folded napkin upon which Judy had written Pawlander’s information.

 

“Mom?” Nick pushed.  “Mom, what did you do?”

 

“I’m really sorry, Judy.  I know you’re disappointed, but someone hating kits… Nick was so little when… I mean it does so much damage if you even just don’t _care_ about them…”  Judy felt a sinking sensation.  Vivienne was becoming frantic.  Something was really wrong.

 

“It’s okay, Mom,” Nick encouraged, hugging his mother.  “We’re with you no matter what.  What happened?  What did you do?”  Judy felt a pang of actual fear.  Could Vivienne have actually harmed Sharla?  The thought of Nick having to arrest the vixen fluttered through her head and she shook it out.  Unacceptable.  She could not even let herself think of it.

 

The lady fox held the velvet box close again.  “Since you gave me this I have thought about… what I did… nonstop.  I said it myself.  Everything we do becomes a part of someone else, even when we don’t try to.  How can I be… Guardian Mother of the Wild… if I just reacted the way I did in anger?”

 

Nick held his mother’s shoulder, looking at her more intently, his voice more stern.  “Mom.  What did you do to Sharla?”

 

Vivienne spoke slowly.  “I told her I knew a private eye… someone _not_ the police, since she didn’t trust them.  She wouldn’t shut up about the dumb ‘status quo’.  No one’s gonna do anything because no one’s done anything.  So I suggested someone who wasn’t a cop.”  Judy furrowed her brow, her ears falling back.  That was out of left field.

 

“Do you… know such a person?” queried Nick.

 

“No.  No, I do not,” came the Nick-esque answer from his mother.  “I told her this mammal knew people who might have learned something about G-Gareth… I told her they were smart, and could see patterns and follow leads that most mammals miss.  I was just… so _angry_ , Nicholas!  I didn’t think really, I just…”  Judy listened curiously, but watched her partner’s expression go from stern to a bit ill.  There was a silence as, for the moment, her husband was speechless.

 

“Mom, where did you send her?  Is she in danger?” begged Judy.

 

“No, I don’t … I don’t think so, not really,” answered Vivienne, though her uncertain tone did _not_ fill the bunny with confidence. “But, Judy, I got Sharla’s address from Sammie – I was gonna _cancel_ the whole mess, tell her not to go, but she was already _gone_.  I went there yesterday while you were visiting with Gideon.  I tried to fix this, I swear!  But she must have taken the noon train.” Vivienne whimpered.

 

“Train?” Judy repeated curiously.

 

“Oh God, no.”  Nick said in a strained whisper as he cupped his muzzle.

 

“Train to where?” Judy softly interrogated.

 

“No, no, no, are you serious?” Nick asked his mother in a pleading tone.  She looked down with a grimace and slowly nodded.

 

“Nick?” Judy pressed, as he seemed to know something she didn’t.

 

“She sent Sharla to New Reynard, Fluff,” answered Nick darkly.

 

“What?” Judy posed weakly and then stifled a gasp as it all slammed almost painfully in place.

 

Nick covered his whole face as he murmured with a tone of sudden apparent exhaustion.  “Mom sent your emotionally unbalanced and aggressive sheep friend to get help from _Honey_.”


End file.
